RIGHT NOW

Wednesday night at church we had a really powerful night with the youth group. We started out discussing Proverbs 25 and 26; we just talked about any and every one of the Proverbs that stuck out to us in those two chapters. Then, one of the junior high guys mentioned 27:1, which says,

"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."

An amazing conversation ensued. One of the guys told us about someone at his school that had died in a car wreck the night before, and what a wake-up call it was to him to realize that that young man was never going to have another chance to do anything, be it homework or a test or eating a meal or spending time with his family, etc. Bobby really started to stress to us that "All we have is right now!" There may not be a tomorrow. There may not be an "in a minute." "Later" may never get here.
Then we got ready to sing and Bobby encouraged us to worship God like it was our last chance to do so. Not to worship Him like we did last Wednesday. Not to think about how we might could worship next Wednesday when we're feeling "more spiritual." But to worship Him as if all we have is right now, because right now is all we have. After a couple of moments of no one leading songs or saying anything, Bobby continued to urge us that all we have is right now, "What are you going to sing to God? What are you going to say to encourage each other?" After that, it was like everyone caught on to what he was saying, and there wasn't another moment of silence. When we finished one song, someone immediately began leading another. The praise was genuine and amazing.

I've been thinking about that a lot since Wednesday, and it has really changed the way I think and act. If this is the only moment I have, I'm not going to waste it on anger or selfishness or pride or jealousy or fear or...you get the idea. If I die one minute from now, I don't want to die doing something that I'd wish I hadn't wasted my time doing. If Jesus comes back in the next second, I don't want Him to come back and find me doing something that doesn't bring Him honor.
Procrastination is a struggle for me (I think it's probably a struggle for most of us in some way, because there's no way for us to get everything done.), but I think I'm going to start changing what I procrastinate on. If I don't have enough time in the day to do everything, then I'm going to start by doing the things that will last beyond this earth. If I don't get to the rest of it...well then, it wasn't really that important anyway, was it? I'm making it my goal to stop looking at my Bible and saying, "I'll do it tomorrow," to stop looking at opportunities to improve my relationships with my family and saying, "I'll do it tomorrow," to stop looking at chances to be a blessing to those that need it and saying, "I'll do it tomorrow," to stop looking at opportunities to encourage my dear friends and saying, "I'll do it tomorrow." The Bible is very clear: THERE MAY NOT BE A TOMORROW. James 4:14 says, "You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." Then in verse 17 he says, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." I find it interesting that James puts that sentence here. I have known that verse for years, but never thought of it in this context. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow (or even if there will be one), so we can't put off the good that we know we should do today. If we do that, we are sinning. I had never thought of that before: by putting off until tomorrow the good things that I know I should do right now, I am sinning. "The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night," says 1 Thessalonians 5:2, and I don't want to wait until right now is all I have to live like right now is all I have.

RIGHT NOW I'm going to start living my life to glorify my Father.
RIGHT NOW I'm going to start praying more faithfully.
RIGHT NOW I'm going to start considering others better than myself.
RIGHT NOW I'm going to start working to build better relationships with my family.
RIGHT NOW I'm going to start being more encouraging to my brothers and sisters in Christ.
RIGHT NOW I'm going to quit caring what other people think about me.
RIGHT NOW I'm going to quit worrying about my future, because tomorrow may not even come, and if it does, my Jesus says in Matthew 6:34 that it will worry about itself.

Now, I know I'm going to fail at doing most of the above things, probably all before lunch tomorrow, but that's what the blood of Jesus is for. Praise Him for that!

So here is my challenge to you, my friends:

RIGHT NOW IS ALL YOU HAVE, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT?

I encourage you, my brothers and sisters, "as long as it is called Today" not to be "hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:13) when it comes to doing good right now. Go say a prayer; just talk to your God. Then go play with your kids, kiss your wife or tell you husband how much you love him. Honestly now, how many of you just had the conscious thought, "I'll do that later?" There may not be a later! And don't tell me you don't have time; if you have time to read my blog, you have time to do that. Think about it: it takes less than three seconds to say "I love you," we should all have time for that! So go do it RIGHT NOW! (All of you that do that win major brownie points with me; whatever that's worth! =D)

Right now is all we have; let's live it for Him!