Opportunities, Improved or Neglected
By Lenora A. Bolles
We find Jesus, when only twelve years of age, earnestly engaged in conversation with Israel’s learned men, and all who heard him were astonished at his wisdom. To his mother, who was surprised at finding him thus employed, he said, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” He felt the importance of improving every opportunity. Jesus had been carefully trained by godly parents. His brain was not dwarfed nor benumbed by evil habits. His eyes were not blinded by sin. He was ready to see, ready to think, ready to act. One of the greatest opportunities is given to man when a little life, fresh from the hand of God, is placed in his hand to train, to mold, to shape. Natural tendencies may be strong, but far better risk naturally evil tendencies, carefully trained, than the best of tendencies in a child turned loose to develop at will. The latter is the devil’s opportunity to ruin the child. Nothing but divine power can inspire the parents to lead, not drive. None but God can give the tact to reach the soul of the child. Not all at once can the character be formed, but little by little, precept upon precept. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Somewhere, sometime, the heart will be touched by the remembrance of the patient teaching and the earnest, faithful prayers. Next in importance to the parent’s opportunity is the teacher’s. It seems natural for the child to copy the teacher. Her ways are his ideal. We find him imitating the tone, the dress, the walk, of the teacher. What an opportunity for doing good! The child-mind, plastic, unaffected, natural, is a fruitful soil in which to sow seed. Teachers, parents, be not discouraged. Faithfully sow the seed, even though you may not realize such results as you desire. There will be happy surprises in heaven. If a desire to do good comes into the heart, remember that it was planted there by God himself. He who numbers the hairs of the head does not give the desire to do good, and then withhold the opportunity to do something for him. We must put away our own ideas of what this work shall be. The very thing from which we are praying to be delivered, may be used by the Lord to give us the discipline we need. The joy of serving God is hidden from us until we are willing to serve him, willing to give him our powers, our talents, our strength. We say, Yes, there are opportunities, but the obstacles are mountain high. Let us scale the mountains. Determination in the Christian life is fully as important as in the business life. We often fail to accomplish the desired object because we lack Christian courage, zeal, and energy. We must cry to God to anoint our eyes that we may see, and to quicken our understanding that we may know, and that we may be energized by the needs about us. Home duties need not prevent work for God. Are there in our homes those who know not God? Do they find in us those Christian graces which speak silently of God and his power to keep us sweet always? or do they find us fretful and impatient? A failure in the Christian life means neglected opportunities. What a difference between the bright, cheery, Spirit-filled life, happy because of the joy and peace found in serving God, and the life that finds no joy, no peace, only hardness and strife! One improves his opportunities in work for God, and the other, through lack of willingness to accept the terms of the gospel, fails. Our opportunities are not measured by the amount of work we do. If they were, we might be led to wonder what could have been the purpose in our creation. The opportunity for advancement may appear many times, yet not until we seize it is it ours. Success or failure depends upon that which is within us, rather than our surroundings. Teach the children to make use of opportunities. To the youth as well as to the older ones I would say, An opportunity for doing good once gone is gone forever. The great Burden-bearer, the giver of opportunities and responsibilities, is ever near. Let us lay hold upon his strength, power, and wisdom, and rooted and grounded in the faith, we cannot fail.