“While We Have Opportunity”
In his letter to the church of Galatia, the apostle Paul reveals a major responsibility that is expected of us, God’s people: the duty of being benevolent. In Galatians 5:10, Paul writes, “so then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially those of the household of faith.” It is apparent that Paul wanted to encourage the church of Galatia to make the most out of every opportunity to do good, both to Christians and non-Christians. Yet, I believe, there is something else taught in this verse that is significant and deserves our attention – the significance of the word “opportunity”.
The word translated as opportunity in this verse comes from the Greek word “karios”, which simply means time – not the general sense of time but the right time, a suitable and convenient time, the right point of time that a thing should be done. This word is used in the Bible to describe a specific point in time, such as a day when an event occurred (Matt. 12:1; 14:1), and is also used to describe fixed times, like the time of harvest (Matt. 21:34; Matt. 24:45). I believe this shows that, to the Greeks, time and opportunity were synonymous. I believe you can also conclude that if one has time, one always has an opportunity. It is also important to note that the Greek definition implies that opportunity is something that can be developed.
We saw in the verses mentioned above that the word “kairos” can be used to describe the time of harvest (gathering of fruit). Working from this use of the word, one can safely deduce that the time of harvest (a fixed time) was a goal that the farmer worked towards with preparation and labor. Therefore, I believe we can conclude that, in essence, this verse teaches us that opportunity is a goal that can be developed and planned for. I believe this is an important concept that many Christians fail to recognize. We sometimes look at opportunity as something we should wait for or as something that will just fall into our laps. However, in reality most of our opportunities for good works are developed through planning and preparation. I believe this idea is implied by Paul earlier in Galatians chapter 5 where he writes, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from his flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8). Doing good to all men is one of many spiritual seeds we sow to reap the wonderful and extraordinary blessing of eternal life. Hence, we need to consciously sow and cultivate opportunities to do good so that we can reap that benefit. This will not be accomplished by just sitting around waiting for opportunities to present themselves. We must plan and prepare the same way in which a farmer plans and prepare for the time (opportunity – kairos) to reap his harvest. Let us examine ourselves and ask ourselves this question – are we planning and preparing for our opportunities or are we just sitting around waiting for them to happen?
— Sam Barclay
