Today
by Jilly Lyon-Taylor
My six-year-old grandson was visiting me with his family recently, and there was great excitement because his birthday was due the following week. It reminded me of when I was a child and I used to look forward (very impatiently!) for my birthdays to arrive. Now they seem to come round all too quickly!
It made me think about how often we can be looking ahead to the next good thing in our lives, instead of living in the moment and enjoying each day. One of the things that impacted me when I first joined a group of Christians in my youth, was that they were enjoying living in the present and not always looking forward to the coming weekend, the next holiday, the next event in their diary or their next relationship, as many others of their age were doing. Jesus came to bring us abundant life, and He wants us to live each moment to the full.
However, it is not just good things that people tend to focus on in the future. Some are consumed with worry and anxiety about what the future may hold. It may be financial concerns, fears over ill health, fear of not being able to cope, or even fear of death. Our worries about the future can rob us of the peace and joy that God wants us to experience each day.
Jesus is very clear in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 that we should not worry about tomorrow. “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25). He reassures us that our heavenly Father knows what we need, and that, if we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, He will give us all these things as well. He goes on to speak out today’s verse: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). This means trusting Him each day for our provision. When the people of Israel were on their way to the Promised Land, after coming out of Egypt, God miraculously provided daily manna for them. The instructions were to gather it each morning, not to try and collect enough for tomorrow as well, except before the Sabbath. This was to teach them to trust the Lord, day by day. We need to learn to do the same – to trust Him for each ‘today’, not worrying about tomorrow.
The Bible tells us to “cast all our anxiety on the Lord” because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). If you have any concerns and worries about the future, why not give them to the Lord now, so you can receive His peace and find in Him everything you need for today.
Jilly Lyon-Taylor is part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Pierrepont. She worked in publishing and then with children in Hong Kong before concentrating on being a full-time mother and serving in the local church. Her desire to see people healed led her to the Luke Nine Eleven Training Scheme(NETS) at Pierrepont, and now she teaches and ministers there.
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