June 7 SoulConnect...Living on the Edge

On my I-80 commute from Lincoln to Omaha I saw something peculiar. On one side of the interstate stands a sturdy old white barn. It is fairly well preserved. It is not being used any longer. There are some hay bales scattered around it like it might be used for some storage. But it is clearly not serving the purposes for which it was originally built. Across from the barn, on the other side of the interstate stands a huge yellow crane hoisting large steel bridge beams as a new bridge is being erected for that part of I-80. Every day I drive between the two. They stand in contrast to one another. They are a picture of the past and the future in the present. Quite literally, as I drive by them, I am on the edge of what was and what will be. Our days of faith and life are like that.

We stand on the edge of what was and what will be. In our “be all you can be world” we are encouraged to strive for tomorrow, move beyond yesterday and, well, get through today. What a way to live. Wake up, take a shower, grab some coffee take a deep breath and hope to God you can get through the day without any major hassles or hang ups. I think many of us live this way today. Daily life has simply become a stepping-stone on the way to some other day that is bound to be better. Retirement, grown kids, paid bills, more time to relax, etc., become the future that calls us away from today. So today becomes a time of constant preparation and anticipating the day “when…”. Or today is simply an escape from yesterday, and a time to brace for tomorrow. And then there’s God, who wants a relationship with us today. But our schedule is so full. And today isn’t even Sunday.

Jesus said. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” (Matthew 6:34) Don’t worry about tomorrow? Are you kidding? Have you seen the price of gas, and my salary isn’t getting any larger, plus my kids need braces, I need a new red sports car, and our eight thousand square foot house is getting kind of cramped. I have to be busy planning and conniving my way through today so tomorrow won’t be such a shock.

Here’s my question. What is today if it is not a day to live as if we know what it means to love one another as God loves us? What is today if we ignore that the sun came up and the sun went down, and the very same thing will happen tomorrow? What is today if we choose to see the worst in people and not the best? Yesterday stands forever in our past as that which formed and shaped us into who we are today, still loved in God’s sight by the way. That is grace. Tomorrow lies before us as a complete unknown, except to God. That is faith. Today has arrived and we must live in it. Welcome to the journey.