TR Hartley

I was on a panel with a few other missionaries and ministers a few weeks ago, and an Ethiopian pastor began our panel with a prayer.

Within his prayer, he said: “Lord, thank You today, March 6th. It will never come again.”

I think that’s a profoundly helpful way to see our lives.

It might be true that today will be like many other days of your life. It might be that your Thursday today will look a lot like the Thursdays in the future. For example, if you have a fairly set work schedule, your Thurdays over the next ten years of your life might look a lot like this Thursday.

But this is your only chance to live this day faithfully. It is a unique opportunity to worship God in faithfully stewarding today, as a distinct day that you’ll only ever live once.

Thinking through that could produce anxiety, or a fear of missing out (FOMO) or of misusing the day. But, those thoughts place all the focus on myself; I don’t think thoughts in those directions are helpful or necessary. A better way to think of this is as an opportunity, today, to center myself on God, and respond by faithfully abiding with Him, today.

Paul Speaks to Faithful Living of the Day: Ephesians 5

I think this thought is on Paul’s mind in Ephesians 5. Let’s read that together (my emphasis added):

Ephesians 5:8-20:

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴ This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.“

Paul is highlighting the fact that we have a unique opportunity in each day of our lives to respond to God’s grace by living in and under the rule of God in our lives. We can choose to live in sin and darkness, or in God’s holiness and light. And so, Paul urges us to be careful with how we live.

Each day (and the various decisions within that day) represents a crossroads. A chance to live for ourselves, our own selfish, short-sighted desires (here characterized by sin and darkness), or to choose to live for God (here characterized by holiness and light).

I don’t think we can arrive at spiritual vibrancy or righteousness passively, or by default. The New Testament consistently teaches us that all sorts of fleshly, sinful behaviors come about when we don’t choose to focus on God, to “be filled with the Spirit”.

Let’s look at one other passage from Paul.

Galatians 5:16-17: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”

I want to choose to walk by the Spirit today. And by doing so, I am also choosing to not gratify the desires of the flesh today.

I haven’t always been faithful to place God on the throne of my life; I have had plenty of days where at the end of them, I wished I had lived differently, had used my time differently, etc… But today, I’m choosing to do just that. I hope you make that same choice.

Reflection

It’s easy to take our days for granted. You’ve lived through many thousands of days.

But today is the first and only ever time that you’ll live through today.

What would faithfully centering yourself on God and abiding with Him look like, today? What would walking with the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit today entail for you?

And what steps can you take to start to live each and every day more faithfully?