Days come and go, some faster it seems than others. When I was a kid, days seemed to last forever, and weeks, months, or years were insanely long periods of time. When I look at the calendar today, I’m shocked to see the year nearly spent, and wondering how I will do all I need to do in the remaining couple months before New Year’s Day. There’s something about age and maturity, that grows our appreciation of the value of a day… and of course, that same age and maturity, can make us leap way beyond the day we’re in, and focus on days either long before us, or long gone behind us.
This enigma was not unknown in the ancient world, either. St. Paul writes about the value of a day in his letter to the Hebrews—and not just any day, but TODAY. Today, the Apostle writes, if you will hear the voice of Jesus Christ and believe His Gospel of salvation for you, you will live in Him by grace through faith. Today…
There’s a mystery at work in creation, and St. Paul puts his finger on it in a very inspired way, never having studied advanced physics or cosmology. Time is a peculiar construct of God, and one of great grace and mercy for us. In the beginning He created us to be infinite beings in perfect communion with Him, but after the Fall, we suffer with the consequence of our sin and death in ways that are ugly painful. Most of us have things in our past that we would rather forget, and wish had never happened. Imagine the pain of having such a past, and knowing that it was always accessible, and always before your eyes—not just in the sense of remembering it, but as if it was always present. Likewise, many of us worry about the future, and the thousands upon thousands of variables that can either help or harm our endeavors—imagine if all of those future days and moments were present to you, and you had to grapple with them all at once. It would be a horrible burden to bear, never escaping the past nor the future, as all time pressed upon us in a single moment.
We should remember, however, that for God, this is exactly how time is. For Him, all time is eternally present. Everything we perceive as past, present, and future, God perceives immediately as present. That means, that when He bears your burdens in this present moment, He is really bearing them right now. And for all those past moments, where your sin and evil broke forth into the world, demanding the sacrifice of His Son to save you… those moments are all present to Him, too. And all your future moments, those that are both good and ill, He perceives in His eternal present, preserving you in and through them, though from your perspective, they haven’t happened yet. Our loving God chooses to bear the burden of our sin, death, and suffering across all time and all space, while He grants a blessed rest to His people: to us, He gives the gift of Today.
Today, you can hear His voice of love from the Cross of His Son, speaking forgiveness and life to you forever. Today, you can repent of the evil you have done, turning from your darkness by the power of His Word, toward the Light of Jesus Christ. Today, you can be unburdened from your sin, receiving grace from the Son of God, who in His flesh nailed your sins and mine to His Holy Cross. Today, you can believe and live forever. Today becomes your first and never-ending day of eternal communion with your Creator, an infinite life of joy and blessedness, found in your Savior, Jesus Christ. While God bears your burden, you are eternally free, Today… for Today, the love of God in Christ Jesus comes to you, that you might live in Him by grace through faith forever. Give thanks to God for the blessing of Today! For Today, the Kingdom of God comes near to you, and this eternal Today shall never end. Glory be to God on High—The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who have worked for us so great a salvation, which comes to us Today. Amen.
A good recap of what you were explaining last night. So much that it makes me pause and thank Almighty God for his wonderous grace. His grace is indeed sufficient!
ReplyDelete