Isaiah 33:10 “'Now I will arise,' says the LORD, 'now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted.'”

Now! Today! This day! The Bible is replete with present tense terminology. Jesus told the rich young ruler to “Go, sell all you have, and follow me.” (Mark 10:21) He announced himself to the world at Nazareth when He said “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21) In Psalm 119:67 we read, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.” In fact, in his sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us specifically to not worry about tomorrow, but instead to deal with the here and now (Matthew 6:34). Have we as believers become so focused on the past or the future that we have neglected the present?

Most of us have indeed focused ourselves on reaching Heaven, and yet we still deal with an overwhelming sense of guilt about our past. Why? Are we not renewed and redeemed? Have our sins not been removed as far as the east is from the west? Is Christ not the Lord of our Lives? Of course we are! Of course they have! Absolutely He is! The past is history, and we do not need to dwell on it, only learn from it that we won't fall into such temptations again. God tells us that He will take care of the future, but we should focus on the present! God wants to be exalted now, not in the future. He wants us to make every effort to serve him now, even despite our problems. We have no excuse for putting anything off. I have heard (and said) “I will serve God better when I have my debts paid off” “I can't do it right now, because of _______.” and “I can not serve God until I am better prepared.” This, my friends, is Satan's way of trying to remove us from glorifying God now. Certainly my debts are there, but I can bring glory to God by volunteering to help out around the church, or at an outreach ministry such as a soup kitchen. If I am too busy to serve God who am I serving?

Today we serve God, not tomorrow, not two days from now, not next year. Today is our day. Today is the day we bring more glory to God than ever before. Today is all we have, Today we do what we can for God, not waiting until tomorrow or complaining about the past. Today is all we have because we never know what the future holds. Let us look at our excuses and find the reason behind them. Let us deal with that reason, be it laziness, apathy, or a lukewarm heart. Then we can see what we can do to serve and glorify God, even if it is something as humble as vacuuming the church, mowing our neighbor's lawn, or picking up trash from the side of the road.

What can we do today for God?

Lord, for tomorrow and its needs I do not pray;

Keep me, my God, from stain of sin just for today.
Help me to labor earnestly and duly pray;
Let me be kind in word and deed, Father, today.

Let me no wrong or idle word unthinking say;
Set Thou a seal upon my lips through all today.
Let me in season, Lord, be grave, in season gay;
Let me be faithful to Thy grace, dear Lord, today.

And if, today, this life of mine should ebb away,
Give me Thy sacrament divine, Father, today.
So for tomorrow and its needs I do not pray;
Still keep me, guide me, love me, Lord, through each day.