Hebrews 4.7 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.”
Today is today. The present. The moment. Yesterday is no more than a memory, but it is gone. Tomorrow never gets here, but we insist it does because we measure our days by sunrise and sunset and there was evening and there was morning – the next day. All we know is our present reality and that includes our speaking of yesterday as if it was today, and we dwell in the expectation of tomorrow; but where we really struggle is in today – just the present, in the moment.
Now, before you write me off to the ranks of the flat-earthers,
let me just say that I think we have a warped view of today. For many of us, today is that which is sandwiched in-between
our memories and our dreams. And many of us live in the memory of the past or
the dream of a future. It’s almost as if we’d be happier with our memories, or
our dreams, if we could just get rid of this pesky reality called: Today.
The writer of Hebrews doesn’t do much to help when he
said, God again set a certain day, calling it, “Today”. But here’s what I
think: God set a certain day, called it, “Today” and that’s exactly where He
wants to meet with you and me. Today. Right now. The present. God knows and understands our love affairs
with what was, or what will be; but He helps us to see that right now today is
where our reality happens, and He is
in the midst of our reality. That’s why He called today, Today.
I think we underestimate Today. Today is where it all
happens. Today is the make or break point for all of us, but as long as there
is life within us, today is today. Reality. Now. Present. And present is where
we need to be in the present. Life is much better lived in the moment than in
our dreams or memories. We might learn from our memories to live better in
Today, or, perhaps, Today will set the tone for Tomorrow, but we only have
today. Right now. The moment.
So, who shares our Today? And what can we leave with them
or learn from them in the moment called “right now”? When the religious ‘expert’
asked Jesus (in Luke 10) And who is my
neighbor? Jesus responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan. I think Jesus
meant it’s those with whom we share our moments whether in the grocery store,
or the doctor’s office, or at the mall or the office or wherever – or, as is
the case of the parable: a crime scene.
Our job, as Jesus’ friends, is to live in our moments,
and to live out those moments with those with whom we are in those moments.
Lord Jesus, may I
learn to live now – right now; not in the memories of yesterday or in the
dreams of tomorrow. And as I live – properly – may I learn to live out those
moments in the presence of the others in them, and with You. Today, I cannot
afford to harden my heart over what has happened or what will be; I just need
to live right now with You living in me. Amen.
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