Sunday, January 24, 2010

CAIROS

In Colossians 4:2, Paul asks the Colossians to pray for him. He says: “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray for us as well – that God will open to us a door for the Word – that we may declare the mystery of Christ.“

And if you were to read just one more phrase in that verse you would find the place Paul is as he writes those very words is in prison. If you were in prison --- asking people for prayer, what do you think you might ask them to pray for? Safety – maybe an EARLY RELEASE?

But Paul doesn't say anything about getting out of jail. Instead, he says, “Ask God to open a door (and he doesn’t mean the JAIL door). He’s asking God to cause the Gospel to spread.

Just don't stop asking … and they didn't stop asking. And by those prayers, the first century followers turned the world upside down.

In Colossians 4:5, Paul says, ‘Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders ... ‘ He says that because someday maybe they won't be outsiders anymore. Someday maybe they'll be believers. All day long you see people who don’t have a personal faith in Christ – where you work --- in your neighborhood – where you shop --- where you buy gas and get groceries --- where you go to school --- at your favorite restaurant.

Start praying, ‘Lord, open a door for me.’ Then, as you pray that - say, ‘God, help me be open to moments of opportunity.'

Then ... after Paul says to conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, he next says: "making the most of the time" or the ‘opportunity.'

The Greeks used two words for “time.” One of them was the word “chronos.” We get our word "chronology" from that. It's just another tick on the clock.

But a second word they would use was the word “cairos,” and that would describe a crossroads --- what we would call a defining moment. “Cairos” is the word Paul uses here.

What he’s saying is, there's going to be defining moments in the lives of people around you --- moments when, for whatever reason, maybe after years of hardness, their hearts suddenly open to God.

That's how it happened for each of us who have come to faith in Christ. We had that defining ‘cairos’ moment. Even though there had been years and years of nothing - no answer - somebody said, "I'll persevere. I’m not giving up." And after years of ‘chronos,’ TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK, there was ‘cairos.’

So here's the question ... WHAT IF WE WERE TO SPEND THIS NEXT YEAR ASKING AND ASKING AND ASKING GOD TO OPEN DOORS FOR US, AND HE DID?

What if we spent this whole year, as a community of Christ-followers, determined more than ever to ask God to use us to offer the HOPE of theGospel in this city more powerfully than has ever happened before -- and He DID?

What if every single one of us said --“God, give me at least ONE person who doesn't know You in Januarycome to know You by December?And … what if we gather next December, and hundreds of people have walked through the doors of faith --- and we look at each other and say, "All year, we just kept praying and asking, praying and asking, praying and asking - we didn’t give UP ... and God did it?"

And be blessed.


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