Today!

I remember a few years ago, one of my friends had a daughter who had just started dating. We were joking around about it. He said, “When she comes home from that first date, I’m going be sitting on the front porch cleaning my shotgun.” I said, “You don’t even have a shotgun.” He said, “I know. But I’m gonna buy one just for the occasion!” We laughed. But underneath the laughter, I could tell there was a legitimate sadness – a realization that his daughter was growing up – that she didn’t need him like she once did. She was no longer that little girl clinging to his legs.

The truth is, things don’t stay the same, do they? Children grow up. Friends change. Some move away. Some go on to be with the Lord. We change. And even if we want to go back we can’t. It is not the way life works.

What we can do is appreciate what we have right now. What we can do is relish the time we spend with family and friends now. What we can do is practice gratitude for the moment. 

In one of his Dial Hope messages, my friend Roger Kunkel wrote about a sign he saw at a plant nursery. The sign said, “The best time to buy a tree was 20 years ago.” Roger read that and thought, “Thanks a lot!” But on the back of the sign, he noticed it said, “The second best time to buy a tree is today!” Today. Today!

That is true in life as well, isn’t it? If there are wrongs that you need to amend, forgiveness you need to offer, things that you need to let go of, people who need to hear how much you love them, prayers you need to say, may you do it today! 

Let us pray: O God of ages past, O God of years to come, we sit now in your presence giving thanks for all the time you have given us – time with family and friends – times of tears and laughter, times of hardship and of joy. Even as we look back, help us to appreciate all that is around us, even now. And, may we make the most of the time we have today. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.