Recognizing Opportunity

The gospel reading today from Luke 19:41-44 narrates Jesus words upon nearing Jerusalem. The story goes, “As Jesus drew near Jerusalem and came in sight of the city he shed tears over it and said, ‘If you in your turn had only understood on this day the message of peace! But, alas, it is hidden from your eyes! Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you – and all because you did not recognize your opportunity when God offered it!’”

The phrase “…all because you did not recognize your opportunity when God offered it!” struck me in the sense that there are so many opportunities of blessings that the Lord has offered us and yet sometimes or most of the times we were not able to recognize it. We were unable to recognize probably because:

1.    We are selective listeners – We only choose to listen to what we are used to and are not open enough to listen to other voices that might have the wisdom too.

2.    We only listen to ourselves – We believe in ourselves too much that what others will say are simply not enough. We are always right while others are always wrong.

Failing to recognize Gods offer will always have consequences. It will either deprive us of the greater things we could have enjoyed or it will lead us to some catastrophic situations that we could have avoided. The opportunity is offered, the question is, are we able to recognize it?

Lord, grant us the heart that is connected to You so we will be able to recognize the opportunities you are offering to us. Amen.

by aats