Right Now!

Time...it's the one thing that is invaluable and the one thing, that once used, can never be renewed. We talk so much about time...how to manage it, how to not waste it, how to save it. And yet, with all of that talk we never truly come to understand the importance of time. In terms of time we tend to think more about time used (the past) and time desired (the future)...but, the time that we are least concerned with that has the most impact on our lives is time possessed (the now).
This morning I read a book of scripture that I don't normally read. In fact, I was reading Psalms and Romans when God laid it upon my heart to read Ecclesiastes. I was amazed at the harmony I was faced with reading what King Solomon wrote and, how over the past couple of weeks we, as a church, have been talking about seizing the now to shape our future. Then, too is the fact that we begin a new sermon series today called, "30 days to live". So, I was blown away by God,(as is often the case), and how smoothly He presented this thought to me...Ecclesiastes is almost entirely about time. More exactly, it is about how we waste so much time worrying about things that don't matter...riches, fame, the past, the future. However, God is trying to tell us that all of those things don't matter...what matters is the now. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 25-34; Jesus tells us not to worry about anything, especially tomorrow, but instead desire those things of God's kingdom...in the book of Philippians 4:11 Paul talks about how he learned to be content regardless of what condition he found his life to be in. God wants to be clear to us...the time frame that we need to be most concerned with is the now.
We are all guilty of glossing over the now...oh, stop shaking your head in disagreement...you're guilty of it too. Think for a moment about how many times you have been faced with someone in need and told yourself, "I'll help them out later...when I have more time"...how many times have you had somebody need to simply talk to you about something on their heart and you've said, "Later on I can listen...let me clear my schedule"? The fact that we can't escape is that God places people in our lives NOW, and he wants us to interact with those people NOW. Jesus, in all of His dealings with others NEVER once told someone, "You know what? I can heal you but this is really a bad time...come back later!" He dealt with them right then and there...He helped them right where they stood. He did it to illustrate to us the importance of the now and how, if we want to shape our tomorrow, we have to live in the now...let tomorrow work itself out.
So I ask you...where is your mind set right now? Are you spinning your wheels thinking about what could have been yesterday or what might be tomorrow? Or are you enjoying the now? As for me, I have wasted too much of God's precious time living in the past and gazing at the future. I have passed up too many opportunities to get closer to Jesus by helping someone that He has placed in my life right now. I am decided to go, RIGHT NOW, and live for now....right now...if you wanna come too then let's go....right now...