Tuesday 16 August 2011

Summer of 2011

This afternoon I woke up from my nap.

In my mind was a song.

The song was one that has been playing in the fitness center that I work at fairly frequently.

The song's name is Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams.

The strange part was I woke up with a particular lyric altered. In the song there is a line, "Those were the best days of my life." But I woke up to the sound of "Today is the best day of my life" instead in my head. That gave me a lot to think about.

To be sure, life is going really well for me right now. I'm halfway through my grad degree. I'll be heading out onto the mission field after that to serve my Savior and King. I'm talking to an amazing girl from Montana. I can't really think of anything to complain about. So maybe today really is the best day of my life. But what about tomorrow? I think it will be too. Here is what I mean. Every day living in the moment is the best days of our lives. You're either living in the moment, in the past, or in the future. You either appreciate and thank God for today or look back on memories or look forward to future expectations. Not that memories or expectations are bad. They're a necessary part of the human experience. But there is something seriously wrong when we fail to live today to the fullest. There is something inherently superior to the experiences of now over the hopes of the future, or even the memories of the past. Ultimately I think its because the other two aren't livable. You can't live in the past or the future. You can only live now and accept it and live it to the fullest, or you can deny it and lose out on all that God has for us. In this case I think the wisdom of Yoda is appropriate, "This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away. . . to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmmm? What he was doing. Hmph."

One of my favorite worship songs is "Better is One Day". This perspective has helped me to look at this song in a different way. The one day can be seen as today. If we spend today in the presence of the Lord, it is better than dwelling on a thousand great days of the past. It is superior to the expectations of a thousand great days in the future. No amount of living elsewhere but the presence of God is worth living. And he expects us to live today. Though his focus was on not worrying, Jesus talked about this issue in Matthew 6. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Verse 34. So I say this to you. Don't dwell on the past or get lost in the future. Enjoy the memories and share them and learn from them. Maintain your hope for the future and continue to pray for God's will to be done in it. But do not do so in sacrifice to living today. Live today to its fullest and enjoy the presence of our Lord each day now and forevermore.

For His Glorious Name,
Jason

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