Text: Genesis 37:18, “And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to slay him. Matthew 26:16, “And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.”
What opportunity are you seeking? Are you seeking to do good or to do evil? Let’s see some people in the bible who sought an opportunity to do evil and the outcome of their evil deeds:
- Joseph’s brothers. According to today’s text, the bible says he came for good, but they used that opportunity to do him evil.
- Outcome: Regrets. They eventually asked for forgiveness from Joseph
- Judas Iscariot. From the second reference, after colliding with the Lord’s enemies, he sought an opportunity to do the evil thing by betraying his Lord.
- Outcome: He became an outcast, had so much guilt that he hung himself.
- Haman. In the book of Esther, Hamman’s plot and opportunity to destroy the Jews took a whole year to plan. Esther 3:5-9 (v7 paraphrased – On the first month of the twelfth year of king Xerxes, lot was casted to choose a day to destroy the people of God and result of the plot was to destroy the Jews on the twelfth month (a whole year, 12 months) Can you imagine!)
- Outcome: His evilness was exposed and was hung on the gallows which he built to hang Mordecai on.
- The Presidents and Princes. They sought opportunity to do evil and planned a plot against Daniel. Daniel 6:4-5 (v4, “Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.”)
- Outcome: God delivered Daniel from the Lion’s den and those who plotted against him were thrown into the Lion’s den, along with their wives and children
We can see the terrible ending of those who planned evil and sought evil opportunities against the people of God. I urge you today to stay away from evil. Look for opportunities to do good even if the other person does not deserve it. Planning evil will only result in your destruction.
Prayer: Father God, I thank you for exposing the acts of those who plan to do evil. I ask that everyone who has planned or is planning evil against me will have their evil plans turned into good for my sake in Jesus name. I pray that you will help me to use any opportunity I have to do good. Change me from within, purge my thoughts, and help me seek opportunities to always do good in Jesus name! Amen!