‘Now’ Is Today – Which May Be All There Is!

Posted by on December 7, 2006 under Bulletin Articles

This morning was interesting. It began by my reading an obituary of a friend, a doctor, killed in a car accident at 53 years of age. I knew him first as a single student in some of my Bible classes at a student center. The young lady who became his wife was in those classes. It is very difficult to believe that a friend 13 years younger than me is no longer a part of earthly life. To me, that is quite sobering!

Shortly after that, I read Joe Pistole’s message about the death of Andrew Brady. He was a young, unmarried coach in a Christian school with deep roots in this Christian community. An aneurysm unexpectedly took his life and devastated his parents!

My point is to challenge us to be sober and appreciative. I do not seek to be morbid!

Among those who believe Jesus Christ is God’s son who provides the world with salvation, this time of the year is hope-filled. God’s promise to do something unique provided past hope. The Son’s coming made that hope a reality. His hope of resurrection makes life meaningful now. That hope gives the future its greatest meaning.

Prior to Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, life and the world were pretty hopeless. Without the resurrected Jesus, they still are. No matter what we accumulate, what we have, or what we are worth, it is all temporary. As the present quickly becomes the past, the haunting question is, “Why? Why does it matter?”

May I paraphrase a statement in a lesson Jesus gave? In the context of those who chased security through theological correctness (Matthew 5:21-6:18), those who chased security through possessions (Matthew 6:19-24), and those who worried because of what they did not have (Matthew 6:25-33), Jesus challenged people to look at “today” differently.

All we can do with the past is learn from it. All we can do with the future is worry about what it will bring. If we spend today fretting about the past or being anxious about the future, all we achieve is a wasting of “now.” Be alive “now.” Do good “now.” Never neglect the problems and challenges of “now.”

The truth is this: All we have is “now.” “Now” learns from the past, refuses to waste itself worrying about the future, and takes care of “now’s” needs.

Do not waste today thinking about what you should have done. Do not waste it fretting about the future. Use “now” well because it is all you have.

Accept these facts. Security is not found in theological positions. Security is not found in possessions. Security is not found in anxiety. Security is found in the resurrection by those who are wise enough to use “now” as an investment in God.

Never stop being grateful for what you have. Never look at the temporary as permanent.