Menu

Expectant Prayers ®

Jennifer Jo Weiss

Carpe Diem - Seize the Day!

I don't know if you've spent any time at graduations this year, but if you haven't... you have to admit that the "spirit" is in the air.  We can't drive anywhere without teen cars displaying white shoe polish declaring "2008 Graduate" or things like that.  Neighborhood streets were lined with cars this past weekend and making your way carefully through the teeny tiny passageway, you were fully aware of which house was THE grads house.  Balloons filled the porch and some sort of sign in the yard grabbed your attention- not to mention all the people.  It's an important life event!  One part of student life is ending and they are transitioning into another season; all part of the journey.

I can't help but think back on all the speeches I've heard given at baccalaureates.  One of the most popular topics or phrases I have heard is "Carpe Diem", Latin for "seize the day".    I've heard it so much that it has become synonymous with graduation.

Most of the time, grads think of carpe diem as "party it up while your young and live life to the fullest".  When I looked it up, the general definition of carpe diem is: "to pick, pluck, gather".   I was pleasantly surprised because I do feel that as Christians, we are living in time of spiritual harvest.  Also, for the student- the idea of having "fruits of their labor" was a neat concept.

But, today as I jotted around town, I thought of something that seemed to strike a chord with me... we need to seize every day - take every chance available to us for godly purposes.  What that means to you may mean something totally different to someone else.   I'm not talking about the fact that we only have so many days in which to live (even thought that's a factor)... what I mean is that we have to take opportunities as they arise to us because sometimes "windows" are only open for a short time. 

Here at my house, when spring comes and the weather gets warmer out, we open our windows.  It's warm enough to do so and it refreshes the house.  It makes the stagnant air cleaner.  Eventually, however...it becomes too warm to open the windows and then we turn on the air.  The windows are closed and probably don't get opened again until the seasons change. 

In our Spiritual walks, those certain "windows of opportunity" that God opens up to us may not always be there.  In the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding" Julia Robert's character tells her best friend that you need to take a hold of situations before the moment passes and they're gone forever (of course in the movie she's wanting to sneak a kiss under a bridge from her best friend while they are on a boat... they emerge from the dark  underside of the bridge into the glimmering sun of the afternoon and the moment has "passed"... her chance forever gone).

What opportunities has God placed in your life today?  What moments are you passing by?  Is there something in your heart that has been "tugging" at you?   Perhaps it's calling that friend that you haven't talked to in awhile.  Maybe it's writing that book you need to get to.  Is it witnessing to that friend at work or next door?  Is it donating time or energy to a worthy cause?  Is it spending time with your child or grandchild before those young impressionable days pass?  Perhaps it's having a conversation with those God puts in your path today.  Maybe it's working on that project that's been on the back burner.  Only you know what those opportunities are and can only YOU can take advantage of them when they arise.  Don't let your "moment in the sun" pass. 

Make no doubt that evil, sin, and the devil take the most of EVERY opportunity that they are given!

Seize the day - carpe diem - while you can!

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)

Go Back