Minding Our Tenses Well: Day 4

Behold, now is the favorable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.

             2 Corinthians 6:2            

“Just do it”  Nike        

 The Present Tense

As far as the study of grammar is concerned, all tenses are equal. But Scripture tells a different story. The “now” and “today” of life aren’t simply periods of time, but some of the weightiest concepts of life.

We can reflect on what has already happened and we can plan for what lies ahead, but only in the present will our thinking and planning become reality. Lots of really important words—objective, goal, resolution, aspiration, idea—are just words until they become a committed action at a particular moment in time.

In the Bible we find the history of a group of people who had an especially hard time with “today” and “commitment:” Old Testament Israel. Over and over again, the leaders whom God raised up, called a double-minded Israel back to obedience because, over and over again, Israel left their first Love. The powerful words of great leaders like Moses and Joshua laid out for them (and preserved for us) the potential blessings as well as the serious consequences of our present tense choices.

And I command you today: Love God, your God. Walk in his ways. Keep His commandments, regulations and rules so that you will live, really live, live exuberantly, blessed by God, your God, in the land you are about to enter and possess… choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, He is life, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God promised…   Deuteronomy 30:18 (The Message)

All we really have is today. But, if Moses is to be believed, our today is the place where we truly love God, listen to His voice, hold fast to Him and walk in His ways. It is also the place where we will experience His blessings and the promise of a long and fruitful life for ourselves and the generations to come.

Nancy Shirah