Relax and Enjoy the Moment

One of the best things about Rusty, though, was the way he lived life-not for what was going to happen tomorrow or next week but living life in the here and now. He enjoyed every minute of it by squeezing out of each moment everything that that moment could give.

When Rusty died, he was taking his special gumbo to a food festival in Union Springs where he lived. Union Springs? Gumbo? Would it not have been better for Rusty to have died in a.. .well, a Key Life Ministries Board meeting or teaching his Sunday school class or counseling some of the many people he had touched for Christ? There is something sort of pedestrian about gumbo and Union Springs.

Then I remembered a conversation Rusty told me he had had with God. It was early in the morning and Rusty said to God, "Lord, I'm your servant and today I give myself to You. I will go where You want me to go, say what You want me to say, and do what You want me to do."

"What do you want to do?" Rusty said the Lord asked.

"That's not important. What's important," Rusty said, being very religious, "is what You want me to do."

"What do you want to do?" The Lord persisted.

"Well," Rusty said, thinking about his farm, "I would really like to build a barn out back."

"Then," God said with a smile, "do it with joy."

Jesus said, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:34). In that passage, Jesus was talking about worry but the principle He gave is one of great importance in life: Live the moment and let the next moment be for the next moment. Or, to put it in the Latin so you will know how sophisticated I am: Carpe Diem! ("Seize the day!")

My life's verse is Ecclesiastes 9:10: Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might...'

I sometimes forget.

The main thing is the hand God has dealt you for this moment-to use an old poker player's imagery-to play it, to enjoy the game and sometimes to collect your winnings. Now that I think back on my poker playing days, it wasn't even what I won (and sometimes I won a lot), or what I lost (and sometimes I lost my shirt). It was the game, the friends with whom I played and the joy of being together while we played the game.

And no, I hardly ever play poker anymore (I do need this job). But, sometime since my poker playing days I turned "religious." I thought that God needed my help. I started looking over His shoulder, as it were, to see what the next hand would be. I was so focused on the next hand that He was going to deal, so focused on doing it right and serving Him properly, that I missed the joy of playing the game. In other words, I forgot to squeeze the moment for the life, the joy and the reality that it offered me.

How much we miss in preparing for, thinking about, planning around and faithfully doing the next thing. God, in His grace and freedom, wants us to do the thing that is presently before us...like spending time with and enjoying a good movie with your family, drinking a milk shake with friends, playing golf or maybe even playing poker (or, if that offends, tiddlywinks).

I know that doesn't sound very "Christian" or "religious." Doesn't matter. Sometimes that is the hand God deals. Sometimes, though, His hand has to do with laughing at a joke told by your son or daughter, having dinner with friends or watching television. Sometimes the hand will have to do with your obedience but, at other times, it may just be that He wants you to relax and to enjoy the moment.

Now that I've finished this, I have a sermon to write. Uh... sorry. Maybe I won't write the sermon. Maybe I will build a barn or make some gumbo. You could too as long as you do it with joy.

If you're interested, there is more information about:
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Copyright 2002 Key Life Network. Today's Daily Wisdom is from Steve Brown. His Bible teaching is heard daily on hundreds of radio stations through the Key Life Network. For the frequency of a station near you go to www.keylife.org

Today's Daily Wisdom post was edited by Keith Todd, moderator of theSermon Fodder list which offers Christian humor and modern day parables forenjoyment and for use as sermon illustration material. To subscribe go to http://www.sermonfodder.com or drop an email note to Sermon_Fodder-subscribe@yahoogroups.com