I stand on the verge of a great precipice. New calendars have been purchased and are today being marked with birthdays and appointment reminders. There is a feeling of a clean slate, as if by the falling of a single new number, the whole world up until now has been forgotten. Finally, the anticipated date on my transcript meets reality. Within a few months, I will graduate from college and go on to supposedly "bigger and better" things, though I have yet to discover their identities. I wonder what I will do for money, who my friends will be, where I will live... if, where and when I'll go to grad school.
But the words of Jesus echo in my ears: "Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself."
Each day is a gift. It is the effect of an actively, creative God, granting life and causing the world to spin and the sun to rise. As a Christian, it is only this day that I can truly live. It is demanded in the model of Christ and His gracious attention to individuals. He didn't waste His days stuck in the clouds, so consumed by His destiny that He ignored or neglected any soul He met. Each encounter in my life is an opportunity given by the gift of today to truly love another person.
Not only by His example, but His immanent coming also demands my complete attention to today. Hope is knowing that in an instant, the injustice and corruption of this world could be eternally cured. Our King could return before I finish the next sentence or take the next breath. All the more reason to pay complete attention to today; there may not even be a tomorrow as I expect it.
Christian living is a combination of relentless hope and unconditional love. The Kingdom of God may fully break through into our present timeline any minute. And as we, His disciples, wait for Him, we have the gift to continue this convergence and preview the Justice of the future by our unashamed and unending love for each person we encounter. Why not worry about tomorrow? Because we can bring the true Tomorrow in these present moments.
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3 comments:
yes. each day is a gift. my youth pastor talked on sunday about how it's kind of stupid to expect everything to change simply because the number of the year changes. maybe we need more new day resolutions. I like that verse that says his mercies are new every morning. one of the reasons the Jews counted the night as the first half of the day and the light part as the second is because this made every day a small copy of God's original creation. The dark is turned to light once again. plus, who can argue with ending the day with sunsets?
yes, i love you too. and yes, i'm straight too. i'm almost engaged after all.
well said, Matt.
RRR
hey.
Man, i am good at wasting gifts/days. Oh, well. Sometimes i feel like the copeland singer, in terms of insomnia, not in terms of the amazing voice...
i love you.
Why be in Missouri? It's warm in california.
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