“And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.” (Exodus 12:10)
In this passage we are reading God’s instructions to the Israelites during their journeys in the wilderness. They had received God’s blessing in the form of manna new each morning and given very strict guidelines of its use, its storage, and its disposal. This blessing kept them alive as it nourished their bodies while they traveled through dry and barren land. God fed them, watered them, kept them alive, protected them, and delivered them into their Promised Land at the end of the forty years wandering period.
The Bible tells us the mercies of God are new every morning. In the model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples one of the lines we pray is, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Everything the Bible shows us points to the fact that yesterdays battles, yesterdays, struggles, and yesterdays victories are just that: yesterdays. Today is a new day. The slate is wiped clean, the earth is fresh and renewed, we are (hopefully) rested after a good night of sleep, and today presents us with a whole new set of circumstances and challenges.
Yet everything we do, every interaction we have with this world is about stacking up our trophies, piling up our awards, and building a temple of sorts that celebrates and highlights all of our good works in the past. Think about it: our resumes are nothing more than a brag sheet wherein we “toot our own horn” and tell of our goodness. We make “I love me” walls in our homes and offices, we proudly display our trophies of what we did in days and years past, some people still wear their high school letter jackets! But that was yesterday.
Paul even wrote that he considered all his past successes as dung in comparison with his relationship with Christ. He had a WAY more impressive resume than any of us have ever had. Yet he understood the importance of today, of a life of continuous service, of facing each day head-on in Christ. Each day to him presented a new set of obstacles and opportunities. The same should be true with us.
We will go places today that we didn’t visit yesterday. Todays list of “things to do” might include a trip to WalMart, the gym, the library, or perhaps we have a scheduled meeting today. Each of these presents us with new opportunites to interact with others. Each interaction gives us the opportunity to share the love of Christ with others – perhaps people we have never met before. When we met people for the first time we don’t usually hand them our resumes or have someone announce us as we arrive. We just arrive. They take us at face-value, they receive us as we are in the moment. They couldn’t care less that we provided a fresh-water well for a remote village in Africa three years ago or that we own part of an oil well in Israel. They don’t care that we once pastored the fastest-growing church in America or that we once sang for some Presidential rally. As we stand before them in the here-and-now, all they see is our present. All they can feel is our presence today. Today I might have crawled out of bed, brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes, and went out into the world looking ragged and worn. That happens. But no matter how we look, no matter how tired we are, no matter what’s going on in our lives, we are called to be Ambassadors for Christ, to be ready in season and out of season. Ready or not, here life comes.
Today I challenge you, my friend, to put yesterday behind. The problems of yesterday are behind. The challenges we faced yesterday are over. The successes we enjoyed yesterday are old news. Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow because each day has enough cares of its own. Today is where we live. Some people we know may not see Thanksgiving or Christmas, others won’t live to see the sun rise tomorrow. In face, WE may never see tomorrow – it is not promised. Today is the day and now is the time. Thanks to social media and cell phones we are in constant contact with the people in our lives (in fact I received a phone call between the second and third paragraph of this message!). Today’s challenges have begun.
We must go back to the Lord’s Prayer and repeat that line again: “Give me this day my daily bread.” God, give us the strength and grace we need for today. Yesterday’s grace was good and it got us through yesterday’s challenges, but we need something fresh from You today – something that will give us the strength to go out in Your power and anointing to have dominion in our world today. Today. Give us the words we need as we face people and hear their struggles, their concerns, their fears, and their needs. Anoint us fresh for the attacks of the enemy we face today. Plant your Word deeply into our hearts today that we might not sin against You, O Lord. Stir up Your Holy Spirit within us that we might rightly reflect Your glory and honor in a world that has grown dark and sinister. May Your power within us lash out against the strongholds of the enemy we may face as we travel through this minefield, this battlefield set before us. May we rejoice as did King David and say with him, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”
Take the time to pray and get before God today, brothers and sisters, prior to leaving your home. Find a quiet place (and for heaven’s sake leave your phone in the other room), settle your heart, read some scripture, pray, and listen for the voice of the Lord. May today be the greatest day of victory you have known up to this point!
Be blessed.
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