Ask a man to name the best thing he ever did for somebody. Watch how he answers. He almost never reaches for something he scheduled. He tells you about the night the phone rang, or the neighbor he happened to catch at the mailbox, or the afternoon he had other plans and set them down.

There's a reason for that, and Scripture gets at it in one line.

As we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, Galatians 6:10.

The word behind opportunity is the word for a season. A window. The right moment for a certain thing. A farmer knows the difference between time passing and the week his crop is ready, and the second one does not wait on his schedule.

So, most of the good in front of you is a window that opens, and it will not stay open.

Solomon said something close to this generations earlier. When it is in your power, don't withhold good from the one to whom it belongs, Proverbs 3:27. Read that phrase again. He writes as though the good already has an owner, and you are only the man holding it for him.

This Sunday we begin a series in the pulpit called Love Without Fences.

Here is the reason for it. Look back over this year at Cornerstone, and you will find good ground covered. Bearing burdens. Encouraging one another. Practicing humility and service. Handling conflict and learning to forgive. Nearly all of it aimed inward, at how we treat each other inside the building.

September faces the other direction. We will spend the month on the neighbor, the stranger, and the person who has no claim on us at all. Then October and November come back to the body.

Paul prayed both directions at once. He asked God to cause the Thessalonians to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, 1 Thessalonians 3:12. One another, and everyone. September takes up the second half of that prayer.

We'll work through Galatians 6:9–10, where Paul pairs three things about doing good with a warning we tend to skip.

The opportunity is a season, and seasons close. Good is something you work, and the verb Paul picks is the one you'd use for a man laboring at a trade. And the good is for all, a wide word he never narrows.

Then comes the warning. Let us not get tired of doing good, Galatians 6:9. Paul assumes his readers will want to quit. He's about when we’ve served for months straight, when the novelty is gone, nobody has said thank you, and you can't tell whether any of it worked.

His answer is a harvest at the proper time, for those who don't give up.

Read Galatians 6:1–10 slowly. Then sit with the question the sermon will put to you.

Who is your opportunity right now? You probably don't have to go looking for one. Most of us already know a name.

Bring it with you Sunday.