Monday, January 20, 2014

Make the most of every opportunity!

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15, 16 NIV)

I have put my neck on the line. For the last two years I have fought the battle over homework at school. I grew up doing homework and assigning it. I can say, more often than not, it was merely busy work. Furthermore, I have been an outspoken advocate for change in education. I specifically believe Math education needs to change. As Math teachers we have touted the value of our curriculum. In reality, we really just teach computation. Now with the onslaught of technology, computational math is virtually unnecessary. Being able to THINK mathematically is the real value in our curriculum.

You may ask how this applies to Christ. I am privileged to spend 6 1/2 hours every day with some amazing young people. They have so much to learn to get ready to be Responsible, Productive Citizens. Spending time on useless teaching is not the best use of our time. We need to spend more time teaching critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, collaboration, and communication instead of computation and fact memorization. Time is wasting. We need to take every opportunity to truly prepare our young people.

As a Christian I need to do the same thing. I can not waste opportunities to share Christ. Yet, I do it all the time. We live in evil times and we can not afford to squander the message. We need to constantly prepare ourselves to actively persue the lost. We need to serve, openly share Gods love, challenge and defend the Gospel against those who would destroy it. I need to stop beating around the bush and get to the heart of the matter. We all need Jesus. We need to fall on our face and beg forgiveness for our stupidity, selfishness, and rejection of our creator. We need to praise God for his patience, grace, and love. The time is now. Lives hang in the balance.

No comments: