Five Minute Friday - on Saturday: Opportunity

Five Minute Fridays are back at Lisa-Jo Bakers blog
Here are the rules:

Writing regularly and for even five minutes stolen here and there during early mornings or late evenings or during nap times and any fringe moments one can carve out can be free therapy for any writer’s soul.
So, let’s do this thing. Let’s write.
Set your timer, clear your head, for five minutes of free writing without worrying about getting it right.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..


OK, are you ready? Please give us your best five minutes on:::

Opportunity…

GO

So, because I sometimes like to know the actual definition of a word I have used and heard all my life....I looked up "opportunity" in the dictionary.  Here is what I found:

Definition of OPPORTUNITY

1

: a favorable juncture of circumstances <the halt provided an opportunity for rest and refreshment>

2

: a good chance for advancement or progress 

So, as a Christian how do these definitions apply to my life?  Well, let's take five and ponder this...

"A favorable juncture of circumstances"....that could be all sorts of things that God has offered in His grace and love.  Let's take a look at the life of Jesus.  The Holy Son of our heavenly Father....came to earth to be born as a poor, vulnerable human infant.  We just celebrated that birth, a birthday that 2000 years later is still celebrated with beautiful, reverent, candlelit services and softly sung hymns.  Jesus grew up learning the trade of a carpenter, sandals full of dirt, journeys taken on foot for many miles and many days.  When He started His ministry here on this earth, He was reviled, made fun of, chased out of towns, spat upon, beaten and ultimately crucified in a death that could be described as nothing more or less than inhumane torture.  

A favorable juncture of circumstances?  Perhaps not.  Or perhaps, by a heavenly standard....very much so. The circumstances of Jesus life all led to that moment of His death and following resurrection.  His cry of "forgive them Father" wasn't only for those Roman soldiers and the bloodthirsty crowd that cried out for his death....but for every human being before and after that very moment that His eyes closed and He breathed His last.  That moment that Mary and the other women realized that what the angel at the tomb told them,“Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."  was true...that Jesus was no longer dead, but truly, gloriously, powerfully alive isn't a moment reserved for just those women...but for all of us as well.  

What Jesus did here on earth, through His life, through His model of a pure and holy God-loving and God-fearing existence, through His sacrifice on the cross was a favorable juncture of circumstances to provide an opportunity FOR US.  An opportunity to live.  An opportunity to learn.  An opportunity to give.  An opportunity to show the world what it means to love, to share, to teach, to hold each other accountable, to give thanks for the daily life that we have...no matter what the circumstances.  An opportunity to love our God and live in gratitude for what He offers....opportunity....

STOP

I must admit that I kept going when my timer beeped...but this was surely an opportunity to make progress in my walk with my Lord....  :)

Hope you have a blessed day, full of opportunity...