An Opportune Time

Do you struggle with procrastination? I know I do. I usually procrastinate tasks that I am not looking forward to but often it doesn’t matter if it is something that I want to do or not. Sometimes I will procrastinate tasks that I want to do but am unsure how to get started or if I have enough time to complete. During the session of Lent I will be actively considering areas of my life where I want to make improvements and have just been procrastinating. Lent is “an opportune time” for self reflection and improving yourself. Interestingly the phrase, “an opportune time” appears in our scripture we will be examining this Sunday and throughout the next week.

In Luke 4:1-13, we read about the temptation of Christ as he wandered the desert for 40 days. After Jesus endured several temptations the scripture says, “[the devil] departed from him until an opportune time.” We could spend some time speculating on when that opportune time might have been for Jesus. But it might be better for us to realize that opportune times come all too often in our lives. Too often, we are living a a double minded kind of existence, even when we know better. We discover that there is are opportune times for temptation, for losing our way, just as there is an opportune time for bettering ourselves. How are you going to use this opportune time God has given you during Lent?

If you haven’t already planned to do something else I want encourage you to join either the Misfits Sunday school class on Sunday mornings at 9:30 or the special Wednesday night group hosted online by Virgil Aldag. Both groups will be journeying through this Lenten season using the scripture and sermon points to examine what it means to be Gathered Up in Jesus. They will have conversations that we hope will encourage all who attend to take advantage of this opportune time for personal growth. We hope to see you this Sunday at worship and in one of those two study groups.

In God’s grip,

Pastor Chuck Church