04/01/2019
Do you say that you have already done God’s will, and are resting for a time, that you are presently doing God’s will, or that tomorrow you will set out to earnestly do God’s will? In so saying we need to understand time, and what it means when we say these things... one is gone, one is active, and the other a dream. Where do you serve God? Where do you tend to His will? Where do you live your life?
“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.”
Hosea 10:12 ESV
Our scripture reading says that “it is time to seek the Lord”, and that means RIGHT NOW! There is a saying that was first recorded in 1562 that goes like this “There is no time like the present.” And John Tussler amplified this expression in his book ‘Proverbs Exemplified’, published in 1790, when he expanded it to say “There is no time like the present, a thousand unforeseen circumstances may interrupt you at a future time.”
In truth... there is NO time but the present. The past is gone and no longer exists, and the future is a dream, or a wish, that has never existed... so all we truly have is this moment, and... why imagine that... it has vanished into the past already. We have our remembrance of past moments, and our perception of the future, but whether we consider ourselves old or young, the present is the same... no faster or slower, no wider or narrower... it is this fleeting and infinitesimally thin slice of existence we call time, so what do we chose to do in it? Will we squander it by thinking of what once was, waste it on dreaming of the future, or grasp this moment in active service to the Lord?
“"O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather! "And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.”
Psalms 39:4-7 ESV
The Bible speaks of time because we are creatures of it, so let’s take a look at how we see the past, present, and future in scripture...
Yesterday -
“"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV
Today -
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV
Tomorrow-
“Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."”
James 4:13-15 ESV
In all of these verses, even when they describe the past or the future, we see an emphasis on NOW, and I have underlined that word to make it easier for us to see.
We each do different things in our present moment, but what we chose is incredibly important because we will never get that particular instant of time back again. When we are children we do childish things, when we are young we do the things of our youth, when we are adults we do adult things, and when we are aged, we do the things that old people do, but in each instant we choose those things, and none are any more or less important than the others... how will we choose throughout the ages of our lives? Will we choose earthly things, spirituality, love, hate, gratitude, ingratitude, or will we choose our will over God’s will? Whatever we do in our present moment can never be undone, and no amount of effort can erase it. A Persian by the name of Omar Khayyam wrote a famous poem that contains these words:
“The moving finger writes: and, having writ, moves on: not all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all your tears wash out a word of it”
Although this was written in a Persian poem, it is truth, because no matter its original writing, or the poet’s religious belief, truth remains truth... but when this particular truth, so poetically stated, is applied to our Christian faith it adds a sense of urgency to our perception of time, and immediacy to our pursuit of, and obedience to, God’s will for us. It also gives urgency to the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Savior! It makes the present universally important.
So what will we choose to do today as the laser thin moment of the present slides through our existence? Given our age and understanding how will we live that instant? Will we accept Jesus as our savior? Will we do God’s will in that moment? Will we love our neighbor, kiss our children, feed the hungry, or will we do one of a myriad of other things? How will we remember that particular moment in time? Will it be what we hoped and dreamed it would be? Will it be time well spent? Will it bring us to God?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for this moment in time, and I pray Lord that I have spent it well in my love and faith in you. Guide my moments Holy Father, and let the choices that I make in them be led by the remembrance of the lessons you have taught me. Let your love flow from me as I live out my life, and when I am finally at that final moment when I stand before you, and prepare to step into eternity, I pray that you will say that you are pleased in how I chose to spend my life. From my first breath until my last, make my moments yours Eternal Father, and let your Holy Spirit give me utterance whenever I have none, and a path to follow when I see none. Let each moment be filled with splendor, and joy, like the instant your Son Jesus called my name, and in that moment I answered “Here am I Lord!” Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who ushers me through time like a river flowing mightily on, until in that blink of an eye I flow into you. Praised be your name Merciful Father for separating me from my sins, and choosing not to remember them. Help me God of Grace to forget the sins in my life as I too forgive them, and take glory Lord in my choices that you have inspired through your Son Jesus Christ!
“And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
Matthew 4:19-20 ESV
Rich Forbes