Monday 13th July - Now is the time

DAILY BYTE

A CEO went on a business management course, and was deeply challenged about the amount of time wasted in his company through procrastination. Wanting to inspire his employees to make the most of every moment he had a whole lot of signs printed and put up throughout the company. The signs simply said, ‘Do it now!’

The message really got through, because the very next week his secretary asked for a raise, his accountant disappeared with millions he had embezzled, and the Board of Directors asked for his resignation!

This week we will be reflecting on the importance of taking hold of the present moment, and not delaying in turning our lives to God. Sadly, many people suffer from the condition of spiritual procrastination. They have the sense that there’s really nothing that urgent or pressing about the spiritual life, so long as they get around to it sooner or later.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Because the decision to put off what is truly important for sometime later, is usually the decision to put off what is truly important for ever. Richard Rohr says, ‘How you do it now, is how you do it.’ It’s the present moment that reveals our true nature. Our priorities RIGHT NOW, by and large, reflect our priorities – period!

So if we’re serious about living a new life, then there’s no better time than the present to begin. In fact, there’s no other time for it ever to begin.

On this the scriptures are clear. In 2 Corinthians 6:2 we read, “NOW is the time of God’s favour. TODAY is the day of salvation.” It is in this present moment that God can be encountered and known.

Here’s a poem by Helen Mallicoat that reflects on what it means that God’s name is ‘I AM’. (There may be some biblical scholars who would differ with some technical aspects of this interpretation of God’s being, but the underlying sentiment of the poem conveys a profound truth.)

I was regretting the past
and fearing the future.
Suddenly, my Lord was speaking.
"My name is I Am"

He paused. I waited. He continued.

"When you live in the past,
with its mistakes and regrets,
it is hard. I am not there.
My name is not 'I was'.

When you live in the future,
with its problems and fears,
it is hard. I am not there.
My name is not 'I will be'.

When you live in this moment
it is not hard. I am here.
My name is 'I AM'.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord God, it’s so easy to put off until later things that really matter. And as a result our lives become a sad array of good intentions that were never translated into present reality. But thank you that your very being is PRESENCE – you come to us here and now in all your glory, and you invite us to take hold of you. Help us today, and each day, to be present to your presence in our lives. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

Exodus 3:7-15

The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering…. The cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

And God said, "I will be with you…”

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

God said to Moses, "I am who I am .This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.