It’s Still Today
On January 2, 2025, I posted the blog, “Yesterday Isn’t, Today Is, Tomorrow…Maybe.” Yesterday I posted, “Job Opening.” In it I listed a handful of things and left it to you to decide their category: job requirements or job perks. This morning’s sermon reminded me of a job requirement I forgot to include. But it also gives me a good segue into a topic that is always forefront in my thinking.
These blogs have become a book
that I publish on Amazon titled, Fearless In The Face Of…Today. My first book is a men’s devotional titled, “Christ In Men…Today.” The word “Today” is prominent in both titles because that’s the topic I referred to above.
The sermon included Luke 9:23. Jesus’ words to His disciples, “…If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” The words daily and today are nearly interchangeable because every day we live is “today.”
We’re 2,000-plus years
from when Jesus uttered those words and they don’t carry the same grisly picture they did then. We have to use our imagination to even come close to the horrible pain inflicted by being nailed to a cross. I believe that Jesus was actually using a cross as a metaphor for a life of sacrifice, which is expected from everyone who claims Him as Savior and Lord.
Living in America in the 21st century has softened many of us. And to consider sacrifice—of anything—doesn’t compute in our daily thinking. Why is that? Could it be that the teaching by parochial schools, preachers, and parents has been watered down to create an elitist message of entitlement? As the apostle Paul would say, “May it never be.” But it may be. Something has.
As we ponder the idea of “today,”
what are some challenges, some opportunities, some trials that we are confronted by in the 21st century? And having identified them, what steps can we take to mitigate their negative impact on our faithfully fulfilling Jesus’ command to “go”? Keep in mind that going doesn’t just include foreign missions. It’s your immediate family, your neighbors, your classmates, working buddies, teammates, and the list is practically endless.
By the way, how’s the other side of Jesus’ charge to His disciples looking in your life? You know, “deny yourself.” We won’t dwell on it but it could also be a topic for your pondering.
I always like to end on a positive note
and this topic may have dampened that a bit. So I’d like to refocus us on the difference between our temporal lives here and what awaits us “tomorrow.” The writer of Hebrews nails it, “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13).
The good news is that though sin is deceitful, it has been defeated by Christ on His cross. If we are in Christ, our sin has been wiped away as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12); and He remembers it no more (Heb. 10:17). Go. Share this good news with somebody as long as it’s still called today.
If you’re not “in Christ” yet and would like to be part of His family, click here Steps To Salvation for a detailed plan to become adopted. Thanks for reading.