Bible verses about "opportunities" | Goodspeed

²⁵ He leaned back from where he lay, on Jesus' breast, and said to him, "Master, who is it?" ²⁶ Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I am going to give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So he dipped the piece of bread and took it and gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot's son. ²⁷ After he took the bread, Satan took possession of him. Then Jesus said to him, "Be quick about your business." ²⁸ But no one else at the table knew what he meant by telling him this,

³⁸ Peter said to them, "You must repent, and every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, in order to have your sins forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit,

⁴⁷ The slave who knows his master's wishes, but does not get ready or act upon them, will be severely punished.

¹¹ Have nothing to do with the profitless doings of the darkness; expose them instead.

¹² So he said, "A nobleman once went to a distant country to secure his appointment to a kingdom and then return. ¹³ And he called in ten of his slaves and gave them each twenty dollars and told them to trade with it while he was gone. ¹⁴ But his countrymen hated him, and they sent a delegation after him to say, 'We do not want this man made king over us.' ¹⁵ And when he had secured the appointment and returned, he ordered the slaves to whom he had given the money to be called in, so that he could find out how much they had made. ¹⁶ The first one came in and said, 'Your twenty dollars has made two hundred, sir!' ¹⁷ And he said to him, 'Well done, my excellent slave! You have proved trustworthy about a very small amount, you shall be governor of ten towns.' ¹⁸ The second came in and said, 'Your twenty dollars has made a hundred, sir!' ¹⁹ And he said to him, 'And you shall be governor of five towns!' ²⁰ And the other one came in and said, 'Here is your twenty dollars, sir. I have kept it put away in a handkerchief, ²¹ for I was afraid of you, for you are a stern man. You pick up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.' ²² He said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will convict you, you wretched slave! You knew, did you, that I was a stern man, and that I pick up what I did not lay down, and harvest what I did not sow? ²³ Then why did you not put my money in the bank, so that when I came back I could have gotten it with interest?' ²⁴ And he said to the bystanders, 'Take the twenty dollars away from him, and give it to the man who has the two hundred!' ²⁵ They said to him, 'He has two hundred, sir!'— ²⁶ 'I tell you, the man who has will have more given him, and from the man who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away! ²⁷ But bring those enemies of mine here who did not want me made king over them, and slaughter them in my presence!' "

¹ Dear friends, do not believe every inspired utterance, but test the utterances to see whether they come from God, for many false prophets have come out into the world.

¹⁶ He said to him, "A man once gave a great dinner, and invited a large number to it, ¹⁷ and when the dinner hour came, he sent around his slave, to say to those who were invited, 'Come! for it is now ready!' ¹⁸ And they all immediately began to excuse themselves. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land, and I must go and look at it. Please have me excused.' ¹⁹ Another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. Please have me excused.' ²⁰ Another said, 'I have married, and so I cannot come.' ²¹ So the slave went back, and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house was angry and said to his slave, 'Hurry out into the streets and squares of the city, and bring the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame in here!' ²² And the slave said, 'What you ordered, sir, has been done, and there is still room.' ²³ And the master said to the slave, 'Go out on the roads, and among the hedges, and make them come so that my house may be full. ²⁴ For I tell you that none of those men who were invited shall have any of my dinner!' "

⁹ The Lord is not slow about his promise, in the sense that some men think; he is really showing his patience with you, because he does not want any to perish, but wishes all men to be brought to repentance.

¹⁶ and make the most of your opportunity, for these are evil times.

¹ "Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Now five of them were foolish and five were sensible. ³ For the foolish ones brought their lamps but brought no oil with them, ⁴ but the sensible ones with their lamps brought oil in their flasks. ⁵ As the bridegroom was slow in coming, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. ⁶ But in the middle of the night there was a shout 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out and meet him!' ⁷ Then all the bridesmaids awoke, and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' ⁹ But the sensible ones answered, 'There may not be enough for us and you. You had better go to the dealers and buy yourselves some.' ¹⁰ But while they were gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and the ones that were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was closed. ¹¹ Afterward the other bridesmaids came and said, 'Sir! Sir! Open the door for us!' ¹² But he answered, 'I tell you, I do not know you!' ¹³ So you must be on the watch, for you do not know either the day or the hour. ¹⁴ "For it is just like a man who was going on a journey, and called in his slaves, and put his property in their hands. ¹⁵ He gave one five thousand dollars, and another two thousand, and another one thousand; to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶ The man who had received the five thousand dollars immediately went into business with the money, and made five thousand more. ¹⁷ In the same way the man who had received the two thousand made two thousand more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received the one thousand went away and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. ¹⁹ Long afterward, their master came back and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And the man who had received the five thousand dollars came up bringing him five thousand more, and said, 'Sir, you put five thousand dollars in my hands; here I have made five thousand more.' ²¹ His master said to him, 'Well done, my excellent, faithful slave! you have been faithful about a small amount; I will put a large one into your hands. Come, share your master's enjoyment!' ²² And the man who had received the two thousand came up and said, 'Sir, you put two thousand dollars into my hands; here I have made two thousand more.' ²³ His master said to him, 'Well done, my excellent, faithful slave! you have been faithful about a small amount; I will put a large one into your hands. Come! share your master's enjoyment.' ²⁴ And the man who had received the one thousand came up and said, 'Sir, I knew you were a hard man, who reaped where you had not sown, and gathered where you had not threshed, ²⁵ and I was frightened, and I went and hid your thousand dollars in the ground. Here is your money!' ²⁶ His master answered, 'You wicked, idle slave! You knew that I reaped where I had not sown and gathered where I had not threshed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and then when I came back I would have gotten my property with interest. ²⁸ So take the thousand dollars away from him, and give it to the man who has the ten thousand, ²⁹ for the man who has will have more given him, and will be plentifully supplied, and from the man who has nothing even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And put the good-for-nothing slave out into the darkness outside, to weep and grind his teeth there.' ³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in his splendor, with all his angels with him, he will take his seat on his glorious throne, ³² and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another, just as a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats, ³³ and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. ³⁴ Then the king will say to those at his right, 'Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take possession of the kingdom which has been destined for you from the creation of the world. ³⁵ For when I was hungry, you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me something to drink, when I was a stranger, you invited me to your homes, ³⁶ when I had no clothes, you gave me clothes, when I was sick, you looked after me, when I was in prison, you came to see me.' ³⁷ Then the upright will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty, and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger, and invite you home, or without clothing, and supply you with it? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison, and go to see you?' ⁴⁰ The king will answer, 'I tell you, in so far as you did it to one of the humblest of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.' ⁴¹ Then he will say to those at his left, 'Begone, you accursed people, to the everlasting fire destined for the devil and his angels! ⁴² For when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat, and when I was thirsty you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ when I was a stranger, you did not invite me home, when I had no clothes, you did not supply me, when I was sick and in prison, you did not look after me.' ⁴⁴ Then they in their turn will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or in need of clothes, or sick, or in prison, and did not wait upon you?' ⁴⁵ Then he will answer, 'I tell you, in so far as you failed to do it for one of these people who are humblest, you failed to do it for me.' ⁴⁶ Then they will go away to everlasting punishment, and the upright to everlasting life."