Articles
Recognize Your Opportunities
Reading: Luke 21:1-19
Jesus foretells the destruction of God’s temple along with the whole city of Jerusalem. His disciples question when this will happen (v. 7), and what follows in Luke 21 is his answer to that question. While application can and should be made to our lives, the details Jesus gives about “the end” here should be understood by the context of him answering this question. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., and so this all happened in that generation (see v. 32).
One such application for us today comes from verse 13: in the midst of describing the signs and struggles that will lead up to Jerusalem’s demise, Jesus tells his disciples that the persecution to come would be “your opportunity to bear witness.” We don’t normally associate imprisonment, betrayal, and hatred with an open door to talk about Jesus, but that’s exactly what Christ sees. In the same way we might not think two pennies makes much of an offering to the God of the universe (vv. 1-4), choosing to serve God when it is most challenging reveals a heart truly devoted to the Lord.
How many opportunities to serve God and love other people pass us by because the situation isn’t ideal in our minds? How many open doors do we miss because we make excuses for others or ourselves? Just as Jesus instructed his followers to see God at work in the hardships to come, we too have the teachings of Christ which train us as we store them up in our hearts. And so as we live, in both good days and bad days, we can speak and act with the intention to make the most of God-given opportunities.
