When opportunity knocks are you listening?
Many of us seem to be deaf to the sound of religious opportunity knocking on our door. Often we seem to think that the knock is for someone else, not for us, so we ignore it.
In Acts 8:26-40 we read of Philip, a man who knew how to answer opportunity’s knock. In verse 26 he is told by an angel to go to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza. When he arrives and sees an Ethiopian in a chariot reading Isaiah the prophet he is told, “Go near and overtake the chariot” (vs.29). As far as we know these are the last instructions given to Philip. However, when he approaches the man and hears him reading the scriptures, Philip immediately sees an opportunity to evangelize and begins to preach Jesus to him (vs. 35). Some might argue that we don’t have an angel or direct instructions from the Holy Spirit to put us in contact with those who need to hear the gospel. However, all the angel did in the case of the Ethiopian and Philip was to bring the two men together and then left it up to Philip to do the rest. Can we say that God is not, through His providence, bringing us in contact with others who need to hear the gospel? Also, in verse 40 we read that after his encounter with the Ethiopian, as Philip traveled the 50 to 60 miles to his home in Caesarea, “he preached in all the cities”. He had to travel home and took advantage of opportunities presented to him. We all have a responsibility to take advantage of the opportunities to spread the gospel that we may encounter. When opportunity knocks, answer the door!