Missed Opportunities

I just completed a week of second grade VBS. One minute I wanted to pinch a few heads off. Moments later I wanted to hug those same mischievous darlings for all it was worth. We used a self-contained classroom approach and only rotated out of the room for worship rally and rec.
The other workers and I had a fantastic week (255 minutes to be exact) with our 27 high-energy divers. There was never a dull, still, or quiet moment.
I have to admit there were times when the temptation was great to just fill time – let whatever happen, happen. After all, what difference would it make if we spent time chasing proverbial rabbits or letting the kids entertain themselves?
The answer is simple. Missed opportunities.
You noticed we were with the kids for 975 minutes (three hours and 15 minutes per day multiplied by five days). That seems like a lot of time – especially when you are constantly on the brink of losing control. In reality our time together was mere moments. Fleeting moments. Moments that will never come our way again.
Compare our 975 minutes with the 1,440 minutes in a day. The 10,080 minutes in a week. The 524,160 minutes in a year. The 34,070,400 minutes in the lifetime of a 65 year old.
From the perspective of a lifetime, 975 minutes is nothing. It is not even a blink of an eye. Yet it might be the only blink of a person’s time here on earth he has the opportunity to hear the gospel. It might be the only minute of his 34,070,400 minutes he acknowledges his separation from God. It might be the single minute he is open to accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
When we make a craft without connecting it to the point of the day, we miss an opportunity. When we serve a snack without spending a moment to review the Bible story, we miss an opportunity. When we spend 30 minutes at recreation without making application to the Biblical truth of the day, we miss an opportunity. When we stand in line for the restroom without using the time to work on the memory verse, we miss an opportunity.
Missed opportunities. Lost minutes. 975 minutes quickly become 500 minutes. 300 minutes. 100 minutes. One minute. The only minute a child is open to accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
We had a fantastic week. We are celebrating that kids in our class made professions of faith. For them it was their minute. The other 34,000,000 plus minutes of their lives will never be the same.
I sure wish I could say we made every one of our 975 minutes count this last week. We didn’t. I didn’t. We let a few of those minutes slip by. We missed opportunities.