Living in the Present

Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount

March 26, 2020

Living in the Present

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Matthew 6:34

Two of the greatest temptations facing the followers of Christ is living in the past and living in the future. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he addressed this issue and encouraged his friends to not worry. Easier said than done for most of us!

Sometimes we find ourselves in the grip of regret about our past. All Christians struggle with this, not the least of which was the Apostle Paul. We first encounter Paul while he is holding the coats of those who martyred Stephen. Next, we learn that he has been promoted to the leader of those making brutal assaults on the followers of Christ. Certainly, Paul had plenty from his past that could have haunted him and immobilized him in service to God. But Paul fully accepted God’s forgiveness and embraced his calling to proclaim the Gospel of grace. The foundation of his ability to live in the present moment is contained in two verses: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:10 NRSV), and, “but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).

We also can get easily snared in the trap of fretting about what tomorrow holds. Jesus didn’t sugar-coat his counsel: don’t worry about tomorrow because today has more than enough issues to keep us occupied. Whether we find ourselves tempted to be obsessed with our past failures or consumed with worry about what may happen in the future, the result is the same; we miss out on what is happening right now, where God has placed us.

Today, a person may cross our path who needs a word of encouragement, or correction. Today we may have an opportunity to engage an issue for which God has uniquely prepared us. Today, our great God needs us to be ready and willing to be used as His vessels of grace.

My Takeaway: I don’t want to miss my assignment from God because I am caught up regretting my past or being pre-occupied with what may happen down the road.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.