THE FUTURE IS NOW

DAY 103:  Time is funny. Sometimes it seems to pass at break-neck speeds, then inexplicably it moves so slow it seems like tomorrow will never arrive. That always seems to be the case when our eyes are on the future - hoping and waiting (or maybe dreading) that thing that is on the horizon.

This week, both in our daily reading plan and through a Bible study I am leading in Genesis, I have gained from God's perspective on time- a prespective we humans desperately need.


Our Genesis lesson started this week with the life a Joseph, the second youngest son of Jacob's 12 sons.  When Joseph was just 17 years old he was a bit of a brat in his brother's eyes.  The favored child of his father, he was a thorn in their side.  I'm sure you know the story.  His brothers, fueled by their jealousy, sell Joseph to slave traders headed to Egypt and deceive their father into believing Joseph was eaten by wild animals. (That puts into perspective how much your kids quarrel, doesn't it?)

As for Joe, He spends the next 13 years in bondage, first to a Egyptian official, and then as a prisoner confined in jail. As bad as the situation was, it must have been especially painful when Joe thought back to a dream that God had given him as a teen.  God had showed him that some day his brothers, and even his mother and father, would bow down and serve him.  There was no mistaking that this dream was from God.  He was sure that God had a special future in store for him - but when! WHEN WOULD HIS FUTURE ARRIVE?

One might expect that in his circumstances time was a cruel mocker as he waited and waited for his dream to be fulfilled.  Who could blame him for obsessing on his "some day."   Strangely, though, not once in all of the narrative of those 13 years of waiting, does Joe ever talk about "some day."  He doesn't ever say things like, "Well, when that day finally arrives, then I'll...".  Only once does he even talk about "tomorrow." That's when he asks the cup-bearer he meets in prison to remember him when he gets restored to his job with Pharaoh.  Of course, it is two years before the guy actually does recall Joe and his ability to interpret dreams.

So what did Joe do during those 13 years?  He didn't sit and twiddle his thumbs.  He didn't lament what he lost. He didn't pine about the passing of time. He didn't constantly talk about "one day." He didn't make lists about all he would like to do. Nope. Instead, he occupied himself every single day with the work God set before him that day.  God allowed him to be a slave.  He was a great slave.  God gave him responsibilities for Potifer's possessions.  He cared for them as if they were his own.  He was falsely accused and imprisoned. He was a model prisoner. He was locked up with criminals. He showed them what it looked like to be trustworthy and became a man of responsibility even there.

When the day came that Joe was called before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams, it was just another day to follow God's lead. He didn't know where that would take him anymore than he did over the last 13 years.  But because he was faithful, every single day, he had 13 years of invaluable experience and accomplishment under his belt. He focused on a profitable "today" and he let God worry about tomorrow. He didn't complain about his circumstances, inwardly or outwardly.  He didn't moan over what he couldn't change. His life did not start when Pharaoh finally put him in charge of all of the land of Egypt; that was just one more day to be faithful as he had been everyday for the 13 years before that "some day" arrived. In time, his some day was greater than he even imagined with everyone would bowing before him, but he never waited idly for that future. If he was breathing, he was looking for opportunities to make a day count. 

The lesson seemed clear to me: our future is today.  If I am idling waiting for "tomorrow" I may find the tomorrow I expect may never arrive - or not in the way I expected.  Or when it does, I may find I failed to prepare by seizing the opportunities of yesterday. 

Oddly, I saw God showing me the same lesson as I worked my way through my daily reading in Luke 18 and 19.  Follow along and notice the focus Jesus places on "today" even while those around Him are looking toward the future:

 ^{Luke 18:15} People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (JESUS POINT: Entering tomorrow depends on having childlike faith TODAY.)

^{Luke 18:18} A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
   ¹⁹ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’^[a]”
 ²¹ “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
 ²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (JESUS POINT: The ruler could only focus on eternal life, while Jesus called him to an eternally profitable DAILY LIFE first.)

^{Luke 19:7} All the people saw (Jesus going to have dinner with Zaccheaeus, a cheating tax collector) and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
 ⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
 ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (JESUS POINT: Salvation isn't just about a better eternal life in the future,  but transforming life TODAY.)

And finally:  ^{Luke 19:11} The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. ¹² He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. ¹³ Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver,^[b] saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’. . . ¹⁵ “After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were.  

Two of the servants invested wisely and made a profit for their master. One just sat on the money and waited for his return. The master took what he sat on and give it to the one who made the most profit. 

 ²⁶ “‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.  (JESUS POINT: What is done today while we "wait" will impact the future when it arrives.)

If the  message of the Bible is anything it is consistent.   While waiting on God is unavoidable, waiting idling is unprofitable.  I hear it loud and clear: stop waiting for the future to arrive and live as if today is all the future we will have.  
 
Every single day we should do something that impacts eternity.  We can love people, serve God, share the gospel, pray for His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven..... the possibilities are in every day.   Time will certainly fly if we are occupied in that way. 

Even with my eyes on future possibilities,

I have been reminded that my feet 

are in the here and now, 

and this is where 

  God expects me to bring Him a profit! 

 

Day 103 (With Genesis 37-50 referenced)
Joshua 13
Joshua 14
Luke 18:1-17
Psalm 85:1-13
Proverbs 13:7-8

Joshua 15
Luke 18:18-43
Psalm 86:1-17
Proverbs 13:9-10

Joshua 16
Joshua 17
Joshua 18
Luke 19:1-27
Psalm 87:1-7
Proverbs 13:11