Chapter 31
Good Monday Morning to this new week 31 of 2024
As we step into this new week, let’s reflect on an intriguing idea: Jesus as a guardian of opportunities. Jesus indeed opened doors to new possibilities and transformative experiences for those around Him and for us today.
Opportunities are more than mere chances for success or advancement. They can be distinguished between potentiality (dynamis) and actuality (energeia or entelecheia). An opportunity represents a state of potentiality that, through human agency or external factors, can be transformed into actuality.They are moments laden with potentiality, requiring freedom and ethical deliberation to actualize. They are temporally bound and subject to the dynamics of agency and determinism, and their value is often judged based on their outcomes and ethical implications. Recognizing and seizing opportunities involves a complex interplay of personal agency, moral responsibility, and social context. From a pragmatic and utilitarian perspective, opportunities are evaluated based on their potential to bring about the greatest good for the greatest number. Pragmatists emphasize the role of opportunities in problem-solving and experiential learning and assess opportunities based on the outcomes they produce, advocating for actions that maximize overall happiness and well-being.
Here are some approaches of Jesus to opportunities:
Jesus’ command to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34) and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39) are profound opportunities for personal and communal transformation.
Jesus’ plea for forgiveness for His persecutors (Luke 23:34) and His teaching on forgiving others (Matthew 6:14) show us the path to freedom from bitterness and resentment.
In declaring Himself the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and asserting that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26),
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Jesus’ life of service (Mark 10:45) and His call for discipleship (Matthew 16:24) provide a model for leadership and greatness through humility.
Jesus’ assertion that He is the light of the world (John 8:12) and that knowing the truth will set us free (John 8:32) reveals opportunities for liberation.
By urging us to seek first God’s kingdom (Matthew 6:33) and declaring that it is within us (Luke 17:21), Jesus opens the door to a transformative reality that begins in our hearts.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This promise is a gateway to everlasting hope.
In summary, Jesus provides opportunities for love and compassion, forgiveness and freedom, faith and possibility, rest and peace, humility and service, enlightenment and liberation, and kingdom living.
Jesus as the guardian of opportunities. His teachings and actions invite us to be catalysts for transformation.
Blessings for a wonderful week ahead!
Philemon