December 2.
When Opportunity Knocks

Matthew 19:20

The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

Here is a text where a man had a great opportunity, but he missed it. The three synoptic writers, Matthew, Mark and Luke, discussed this young man. One writer says he was young. The other writer says he was rich. The other writer says he was a ruler. And by looking at all three accounts, we discover that he was a young rich ruler. When you look at his resume he had a lot to offer, because most of the time people don’t have all three at the same time.

But when you are young there are several things you ought to do. First, you ought to train your mind while its young and alert. You can think better and comprehend more while you’re young. Secondly, straighten your life out. Don’t waste and throw away your life while you’re young. You can do some things while you’re young that will damage you for the rest of your life. You don’t want to get a bad record because when you reach a certain age, opportunities will come require a good record. You might miss some things that you could accomplish if hadn’t messed up your record while you were young.

Thirdly, don’t let others snatch youth from you. Don’t let other fellows who are going nowhere stop you from going. Instead of hanging around with crack, be introduced to Jesus, the rock. He’s all you need. If you want to get high, don’t get high on substances and stuff; get high on Jesus. Jesus made me higher than I’ve ever been before. And when you have a hangover on drugs and alcohol, it makes you worse, but when you have a hangover on Jesus it makes you better. It puts joy in your heart, pep in your step and a glow in your eyes. The Jesus hangover will have you loving folk, but that other hangover will have you hating folk. You can eliminate some stuff and be ready for opportunity if you handle life better while you’re young.