"Live one day at a time. You can plan for tomorrow and hope for the future, but don't live in it. Live this day well, and tomorrow's strength will come tomorrow."
-Charles W. Shedd
"Whether these are the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got."
-Art Buchwald
"Time flies. It's up to you to be the navigator."
-Robert Orben
-Proverbs 8:34
Wisdom is begging for a hearing from anyone who will listen. Verse 1 says, "Listen as wisdom calls out!" The verse for today says, "Happy are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home." God, according to these verses, desires listeners. Listeners are very rare today and to listen well is a lost art possessed by too few. However, I want to focus on another very important word: daily.
When I was a child, my mother would often tell me, "Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?" That was her way of telling me to, "Do it now!" As I got older and wiser and busier I would occasionally rearrange the words and say, "Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?"
Now there's a great deal of difference in those two quotes even though only a few words have been moved around. The word that is the key word, to me, is that word today. You see, tomorrow may never come, yesterday is gone, and right now I only have today. For me to experience the happiness of listening to God, I must listen, daily . . . today . . . every day!
Other scriptures remind us of the need to listen and live today:
"Remember NOW (today) the Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Advice for those who are young.
"This is the day (today) the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).
"Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days (today)" (Ephesians 5:16).
When we begin to remember the Creator every today, and rejoice and be glad every today and do good every today and listen every today, we will experience the happiness of God every today. But we've got to start today!
We live in an extremely busy, hurry-up-and-wait world. Even church families are hurrying and scurrying so much that they often miss the precious todays that have been gift-wrapped and given by God. We hurry from mountain-top experience to mountain-top experience in hopes of experiencing the happiness and purpose of the Father but we miss the beauty of slowly navigating the daily living in the valley of today. There, as we pause by the river, we can enjoy the refreshing of God's Spirit as he supplies the spiritual nutrients for us each day.
What has happened? What is this plague that has infected God's family?
We've become too busy . We've don't take or make time to listen. Our daily time with God and his Word has become stale, rushed, or even non-existent. We rush from Sunday to Sunday and then wonder why we come home from church services as empty as always. We've stopped seeking him early. We've stopped seeking him daily.
Statistics confirm that the older a person becomes, the harder it is to reach that person for Christ. I wonder why? You don't suppose it's because the older we get the busier we get, do you? Jesus becomes one of an increasing number of thoughts that jumble our minds as we speed down the fast lanes of our lives. Even teenagers, today, are busier than I've ever seen them. Today, for most of us, is usually one big blur, a lightning flash on the calendar and then it's gone forever.
If we're going to listen and watch and wait and do his will, the time to begin is today! If we're going to listen and watch and wait and do his will, we need to do it early in the day before busy sets in! Today is the best time to begin anything worth beginning. Love your family and spend time with them today! Write that note of encouragement today! Give that special hug today! Make that phone call today! Buy that puppy today!
On second thought, you may want to hold off on the puppy and double check with your spouse first!
On second thought, you may want to hold off on the puppy and double check with your spouse first! Listen to the words from a great song about today. I hope these words hit you like they hit me. The song is a reminder that this twenty-four hour gift from the Father can't be stored anywhere or accrued for later use or saved in a bank . . . it must be used up today!
And while it's still called today
Won't somebody make it right
Before the day slips into night
And the moments waste away
While it's still called today
Oh we've got to say the words
That are longing to be heard
'Cause tomorrow may be too late
Go on and say what you need to say . . .
'Cause there's a time when the sun goes down
And the flowers are laid on the grave
Will the tears that fall to the ground
Be tears of regret for the words
someone did not say?
Seek God early. Begin today. Seek his will today . . . and start right now.
Father, give us this day our daily bread.
Today.
No comments:
Post a Comment