Every Day… Every Opportunity

Every day… every opportunity… he was sharing the Gospel.

How many opportunities do I miss? How many could I have told?

The weekend before last, we had some unusually warm weather. Both Saturday and Sunday, the temperature reached almost eighty degrees. I am not a cold-weather person, so it was nice to get outside. As my husband and I walked through the woods on Sunday climbing across fallen trees, I had forgotten how many had been uprooted by Hurricane Helene.

A few days later, as I was continuing in my study of Paul’s ministry in the New Testament, I read about his second missionary journey in the book of Acts. When I came to the verses detailing his time spent in Athens, I drifted back to my Sunday walk in the woods and how I had forgotten about all those fallen trees. I had forgotten about them because I had not been out there among them.

When Paul arrived in Athens, he was troubled. In Acts 17:16, the scripture says, “…his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry” (KJV). So, what does Paul do? He gets out there. He walks alongside the people there and talks to them. Verse 17 states, “Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him” (Acts 17:17 KJV). The word ‘daily’ almost leaped off the page as I stared at this passage. Every day, Paul walked those streets in Athens, sharing the Gospel.

My absence in the woods had led me to forget how many trees were still lying on the ground, ripped up by the storm. Paul did not walk away, forgetting what he had seen in this city. He got out there daily, using every opportunity to let the people know about the saving grace of Jesus.