Ramblings on Faith
11/5/2008
Have you noticed that every now and then you say something, and as it rolls out of your mouth, you think “Wow, that’s pretty good!”? If you’re like me, you may have even said it before, but the statement didn’t catch you before. I had one of those moments a couple of weeks ago, and I took the opportunity to reflect on it and develop it in a recent sermon.
We recently completed a sermon series called 30 Days to Live. The gist was to encourage people to live more boldly, more meaningfully, more abundantly; to live as if we literally had 30 days left on this planet. With only days left to live, our focus on the world changes, our priorities are clearer, our actions are more intentional, and our eternity is more important. It was a great series! In conjunction with the series, we offered opportunity for small group formation, and I was blessed to facilitate one. I walked in the door, and the facilitator of the group said, “Rex, I am going to let you handle this tonight.” So much for being prepared!
In the midst of my “punt” to facilitate the discussion, I caught myself saying that obedience is always about tomorrow. I talked about how we look for reasons to start a diet or quit a certain behavior or do something different…but we always set a later date for it. It’s always next week, next month, next year. We know we need to be obedient about something, that life is but a vapor and that we have no promise of tomorrow. Yet we make big plans for tomorrow. Obedience tomorrow always seems easier than obedience today, as if giving it a start date some how makes God ok with our sin until then.
I said it, and I caught myself off guard. I was forced to wrestle with my words, and as I prepared my Sunday sermon, I was forced to act on my own words. I couldn’t possibly ask someone else to act on words that I didn’t take seriously. Sometimes life is just like that. Sometimes God is just like that. He might use your own words to convict you to make a change you put off and promise to address tomorrow. The fact is, when we need to make changes in our life, the best time to do them is now. Later means never.
We need to start now, not tomorrow, not on Monday, not on New Years day or not after our birthday. Now, today! God only asks us to do what we can do and then He will do what only He can do. II Corinthians 12:9, God says, “For my grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” My prayer for you this week is that God’s power may rest on you!
