TODAY, A GOOD PLACE TO START A BLOG

My prayer for this blog is that in some way, over the course of many “todays,” it will be an answer to your prayers for spiritual sustenance, bread for your soul.

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A number of months ago, a new Annie movie was released. Do you remember the song entitled “Tomorrow”? Annie begins her song, “The sun’ll come out tomorrow,” and ends with, “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow! You’re always a day away!” A hopeful song for a little girl with little hope for today.

We Christians find great hope in tomorrow, too. Our hope is firmly planted in God’s promises. We have absolute confidence that there is an amazing bright tomorrow dawning for us -- The path of the righteous is like the first light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter till full day (Prov 4:18).

Our full day, of course, will come when we finally enter the mansions prepared for us in heaven. And what a day that will be! Yet, as amazing as our promised tomorrow will be and the wondrous hope and encouragement it gives us, we cannot afford to park ourselves with Annie in tomorrow.

Nor can we get stuck in our past, neither in past failures nor past glories. Both possess potential to do us great harm . . . if we get lodged there. Of course, we never diminish what Christ did for us on the Cross. We always remember and glory in His sacrifice for us. But God does not want us to sit there, either.

Yes, the whole span, from what God did for us to what He will do for us, matters. Because of these realities, we have great hope. And with such incredible hope, we are free to live life fully TODAY. And that is what God wants for us.

TODAY is immensely important. While we have lots of yesterdays and countless tomorrow, today only comes around once. I think of the terror the children of Israel felt after leaving Egypt and suddenly seeing Pharaoh’s mighty army descending toward them. Yesterday no longer mattered to them, and tomorrow was completely meaningless. The only thing that mattered was right then and there -- God coming through for them TODAY.

So Moses assured them with these powerful words: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you TODAY. The Egyptians you see TODAY you will never see again” (Ex 14:13). That very day they obeyed, and that very day God kept His promise.

When God gave Israel the commands by which they must live, He said, “See, I set before you TODAY life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you TODAY to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws . . .” (Deut 30:15-16a). Their response to Him, neither yesterday nor tomorrow but today, was what mattered to Him.

And today is a critical day for us, too! The writer of Hebrews certainly thought so. He took the issue so seriously that he thought it necessary to repeat himself:

So, as the Holy Spirit says: "TODAY, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts . . . (3:7-8a)

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "TODAY," so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (3:12-13).

As has just been said: "TODAY, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion” (3:15).

God again set a certain day, calling it "TODAY." This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: "TODAY, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (4:7).

In one sense, of course, “Today” can include more than a 24-hour period, even the span of our life, or the span of this age. For our purposes right now, however, today is this very day and hour – from the time of our waking to the time of our sleeping. We want to make today count because another day on this earth is never guaranteed us.

THIS is our day for honoring and glorifying God and making a difference in our world. THIS is the day for standing, fighting, proclaiming, and rejoicing. As the scripture so beautifully proclaims, THIS is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psa 118:24).

Jesus taught us to pray, And give us TODAY our daily bread (Matt 6:11). My prayer for this blog is that in some way, over the course of many “todays,” it will be an answer to your prayers for spiritual sustenance, bread for your soul. When you visit here, may you find some feast prepared by God’s Spirit to help inspire, empower and move you victoriously through your “today.”

Let us always remember that we do not serve the great I Was, nor the great I Will Be. He is the great I AM.