live in the now

today is a new day, tomorrow is not yet here, so live in the now!

yesterday was the past, tomorrow is the future, but today is all i can really impact. (i was going to say control, but once you are following Christ and married, you don't control much!)

i preached a sermon on fear about 3 months ago in XLR8 and remember telling the students that the future doesn't exist. we can imagine what the future will look like in our minds, but it rarely ever looks like reality.

now, don't get me wrong . . . we must plan for the future, but we cannot be paralyzed by it. many people i have met (and sometimes myself) have been so overwhelmed by their future that it causes them to live in a state of panic.

the longer we serve the Lord, the more we must realize that only He knows our future. the great part of that is . . . He also holds our future. is there a better combo?

i remember a line from an old movie, Wayne's World (not recommended to watch!). Wayne (played by Mike Myers) spots the car (i think it was car. maybe it was a guitar) of his dreams and begins to imagine owning it. while he is in fantasy land, his buddy Garth (played by Dana Carvey) says, "live in the now," reminding his friend that it's not going to happen, but today is happening, so live it.

what truth! we must live in the now. learn from the past, but don't live there. embrace and plan for the future, but don't live there either. we must live today for what it is worth . . . and live it for God!

peace