This Year Just Do This To Succeed

Ephesians 5:15
Be very careful, then, how you live —not as unwise but as wise,

Ephesians 5:16
making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Happy new year 2021!

Happy new year to all our supporters who have made sure we remain online. Happy news year to all who do not just read but also share this word of God far and wide. Happy new year to those who care to encourage us to keep producing these messages for God’s glory. Happy new year to every body and all the best this year.

Our text today falls under the general remarks that Paul wrote to promote Christian living. The two texts are one message. The message is the best strategy and resolves that everyone should have. Just do what the text tells us and you will succeed!

The text tells us to prefer wise living over the unwise living. Unwise people go through life blindly, without goals, ambitions, and aspirations. Unwise people just move on with the flow. Unwise people are subject to the control of others. Apostle Paul was inspired to tells us to live as wise and not as unwise.

We must ask ourselves are we living wisely? Is that company wise? are those friends the wisest company you can keep? With poor grades in school, is it wise to keep the company of pleasure lovers who also perform poorly in school? Live your life wisely. Is that investment wise? Have you done due diligence or you are rushing to be like others? Is it wise to go through life with erratic worship attendance? Is that living wisely? Eating and drinking all the time and endangering your life, is that wise eating? The Bible tells us to live as wise people and not as unwise people.

The Bible goes further to tells us that wise living is made of saving of time, redeeming of time, or making the most of every opportunity. In other words, your attitude towards time determines whether you are wise or foolish. If you care enough about time to save it and plan for it, you are wise. If you just flow and plan nothing, you are unwise. The Bible expects us to be wise and demonstrate time management and taking advantage of the opportunity.

To redeem time also means that we do not procrastinate. To take advantage of opportunity means we act now and not later. Anything worth doing should be done now and not later. To plan to do later what should be done now is to give failure a chance against us. May God save us from procrastination.

To redeem time or to take advantage of opportunity is to properly prioritize. Prioritizing means the most important things come first. In your list of things to do, if suddenly an emergency came what would you still do and what will you leave out? The answer to that question informs you about your priorities. If you had a short time before traveling for a long time, what would want done from your list of things to do? If you agreed to dying and had a few weeks to die, what would you want to do in order to die peacefully, knowing you have achieved that? That informs your priorities. If your life was to be assessed in the next three months or even one year, for your greatest achievements in life, what would you do to make the findings satisfactory? That should be your priority. Matthew 6:33 gives us a priority plan, seek first the kingdom of God. To redeem time or to make the best of every opportunity is to have priorities.

Time and opportunity are interpreted as the same thing. Opportunity is a chance to advance with ease. Opportunity is not permanent but time bound. That is why it has been said that “opportunity knocks once.” Opportunity gets lost as time goes by. opportunity does not wait. When we manage time, we will manage such opportunities. If you care about opportunities, you will care about time.

Opportunity requires risk-taking. When an opportunity appears we have a very short time to decide to use the opportunity or lose it. If we can’t pray and by faith take the risk, we will never do anything worthwhile. Something must be so valuable that our passion overcomes the fear of failure. If it is worth it, it is worth the risk. If it is not worth the risk, it is not worth it. If we are to explore various opportunities, we must be passionate and then take risks. If you are not passionate about this person or this opportunity, then keep searching prayerfully. If you are wise, you will take risks in pursuit of advancement. This year, this month, this week, and today plan and take a risk!

Apart from risk-taking, we also explore opportunities and use time well when we plan for how to spend our time. We need a list of things to be done each day. When you have a list, it makes you accountable and you can track your own productivity per day. Write the activities you plan for each day. Write on a simple piece of paper. Have plans for this month and this year. Daily take a piece of paper that has your list of things to do and follow it. That is how we redeem time for the days are evil.

The evilness of the days is in relation to the need to use time well and receive salvation before it is forever too late and we are hell-bound. It is also a reality that if a deadline comes and you have undone work, it is an evil day. A day of stress, cursing, and regretting. Evil days are old age without retirement plans or savings. evil days are days when you need the money and you saved none. Evil days are when Jobs are lost and we have no side hustle. Explore opportunities and use time well so that the days will not prove to be ruthlessly evil.

May God grant us this year to live wisely. May we redeem the time, may we explore all opportunities with courage, urgency, and laden with wisdom from God. May we be found to be productive and safe when the evil days come, in Jesus’ name, Amen!