Live TODAY!

Today is full of opportunities. The biggest impediments that we will overcome to gain those opportunities are yesterday and tomorrow!

Are you paralyzed in the present by 'yesterday?' Regret about choices made in the past throws a strong chain around us holding us back from living in the now. So, too, bitterness! The power of both is removed by genuine repentance, which allows us to know the forgiveness of God, the choice to forgive those who have sinned against us. So important is being forgiven and a forgiver that Jesus made it a key part of the model prayer He taught to the disciples. "Pray like this," He said. "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." (Matthew 6:12, KJV) Forgiveness is a choice that you make. We do not have to wait until we 'feel like' it or until the sense of being wronged has diminished over time. We can forgive right now with God's help! We transfer any debt that we are holding against another person to God to await His perfect justice and that is the heart of true forgiveness. In so doing, we gain the freedom to live in the present. Likewise, when we accept God's forgiveness for our own failures and sins! Our Lord is a Redeemer - able to transform our brokenness into a source of strength. Believe it and leave regret behind, so you can live today!

Some of us miss the moment because we are anticipating tomorrow. I can easily justify procrastination by promising myself a better opportunity - 'tomorrow.' It's a trap to think that we will do more for God or others when 'I have more time,' or 'more money,' or 'when the kids are grown,' or 'if I get that new job.' While we wait for better times, the opportunities of this day pass by unseen, obscured in the haze of a hoped-for future. Hope is a wonderful thing. I am powerfully drawn along in my Christian life by the promise of spending eternity in the Paradise prepared by God for me. But, I am not so 'heavenly-minded that I am no earthly good.' Even as I set the hope of Heaven in my sights on the horizon, I live in this moment.

Hebrews 3 is a great chapter that draws on the experience of the Israelis who were called out of Egypt to the Promised Land as a teaching lesson for disciples. In spite of many experiences of both the faithfulness and power of God, they missed the purpose of God because they looked back at yesterday regretting choices to move on, or they anticipated tomorrow, falling into fear. Yesterday and tomorrow caused them to reject the will of God today. Remember their longings for the food of Egypt which they claimed 'cost us nothing?' How quickly they forgot the cruelty of their Egyptian task-masters! Then, too, they would not go into Canaan because they saw the long, difficult work involved in possessing the land, and discounted God's power and help for that task. They died in the desert, ignoring the opportunities of the day. So we read this warning: "My friends, watch out! Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God. You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called "today." If you don't, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn. We were sure about Christ when we first became his people.
So let's hold tightly to our faith until the end. The Scriptures say, "If you hear his voice today, don't be stubborn like those who rebelled." (Hebrews 3:12-15, CEV)

There is a Gospel song that has practical advice:
"We have this moment to hold in our hands,
And to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand,
Yesterday's gone, and tomorrow may never come,
But we have this moment today!" copyright 1975- Wm. Gaither

Take the blessings of the present and pray with me:
"Father, thank you for this day.
Thank you for opportunities to do good,to experience Your grace, and to see Your provision for my needs today.
Forgive me of the sins of yesterday, Lord, and release me from the chains of regret and guilt.
Give me the greatness of heart to set others free from indebtedness as You have forgiven me in Christ Jesus.
Open my eyes to the possibilities that exist today.
Help me to look around and to see what You're doing now and to join You in making a difference in the world.Holy Spirit, fill me powerfully with life and let me be a life-giver to the people that I will interact with today.
In the name of Jesus, my Redeemer and my Hope, I ask these things. Amen."