Ephesians 5:15-16, “Be very careful, then, how you live— not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Jesus calls us to “make the most of every opportunity to fulfill His mission and ours.
“D. L. Moody said that his ‘greatest mistake’ occurred October 8, 1871. His message that evening was based on Pilate’s question, ‘What shall I do then with Jesus?’ In conclusion he said, ‘I wish you would seriously consider this subject, for next Sunday we will speak about the cross, and at that time I’ll inquire, ‘What will YOU do with Jesus?’ Ira Sankey then sang the closing hymn which included these lines: ‘Today the Saviour calls; for refuge fly. The storm of justice falls, and death is nigh.’
“But the hymn was never finished, for while Sankey was singing, there was the rush and roar of fire engines on the street outside. That was the night of the great Chicago fire which almost destroyed the entire city. Among the hundreds who died were some who just heard Moody preach. The evangelist was deeply distressed by this and lamented his fatal error in not inviting people to receive Jesus that evening.” [SOURCES: Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, #5378 and David Holwick, “Moody’s Greatest Mistake” in Pastor Holwick’s Sermon Illustrations for Windows 95/98, VERSION 2.0, December 1, 2001.]