01.05.21—Trust – Genesis 6: 1-3
My friend, may I ask you a question? Should you wait until the river of your life takes you to the place where you will start all things and finish all things? Is this a futile existence, especially when it comes to spiritual things?
My friend, life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day. I’m M. Clifford Brunner
Remember the old adage “Everything comes to him who waits?” Doesn’t that mean that the longer I wait to plan something, initiate something or complete something, the better the odds that the waiting will result in a better product, a higher achievement and a more rewarding outcome when I finally do decide to address the issues? It would, of course, be great if this were the way all things were accomplished in this life. In a way it would be like just sitting back and letting things sort themselves out and then getting down to business. In a perfect world things would probably work that way. I have often felt that this was the method for accomplishment that Adam and Eve must have used. Things just happened when they were supposed to happen. Time, in essence, had as little meaning for them as it does for God.
But, in this imperfect world we live in, it is highly more likely that the longer we wait to do things, the harder and more unpleasant they will seem to be to start. Perhaps it’s the way we look at time that causes all the problem. We divide things into yesterday, today and tomorrow. Since we live in today and want to enjoy the moment and yesterday is beyond our reach, poor tomorrow so often gets the nod for the “to-do’s” in our lives. Yet, when you think of it, tomorrow and today are so inextricably linked that waiting for tomorrow is like waiting for the next minute to pass on your watch. There is always another minute; there will always be another tomorrow. Clarence Macartney writes, “At the threshold of a new year, we stand today at one of those divisions of time which man has established for his own convenience. The division is altogether imaginary and arbitrary. This day is no more the beginning of a new year than yesterday or the day before. Yet even this imaginary division gives pause for thought. The man who pauses to rest on the bridge may think of the course of the river, how in a short time the water into which he is gazing will flow under the bridge at Sewickley, and then under the bridge at Rochester, and then past Wheeling, and then under the bridges at Cincinnati, then past Cairo, and thus into the Mississippi, and past St. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, New Orleans, into the Gulf of Mexico and so to the Atlantic Ocean. He pauses to think of the course of the river, but the river never stops for a moment in its eager course toward the ocean. So, between the two eternities, the river of time flows ever on, every seeking the sea; and even while we pause on a New Year’s morning to contemplate the stream, its rapidity, its slowness, its destination, or its source, the river of our life flows every onward. Days of pain and sorrow will make the stream seem to flow very slowly; days of happiness and bliss will give it a rapid velocity; but always its rate of flow is the same, and never for a single moment does it stop.” (Clarence Edward Macartney, Macartney’s Illustrations, pg. 392)
Waiting until the river of your life takes you to the place where you will start all things and finish all things is a futile existence, especially when it comes to spiritual things. There really is no time like the present if you wish to get started on that Bible reading, those daily devotions, a regular prayer and worship life. The river of time is passing and it won’t stop to give you a better time or opportunity to do these things. It respect no man and is as relentless as anything that you are liable to meet in this life. When it comes to your soul, waiting is not an option. Now is your time of grace. Use it!
We pray. Heavenly Father, life is full of so many opportunities, so many roads to walk down. Sometimes our sinful nature tells us to take it easy, and do tomorrow what can rightfully be done today. Forgive us when we procrastinate and waste the precious moments You have given us. Help us to use our time wisely and for good. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!
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<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.