Today

“For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice”

Psalm 95:7  


If you hung out with my grandkids yesterday you would have had no idea that the world is in the midst of a pandemic as they decided they wanted to have a lemonade stand out in the front yard for passer by's. They weren't worried about the future at all, as they were just enjoying the day. What a great reminder for us all! I read a couple of yard signs the other day driving through a neighborhood. The first one said, “We will get through this” followed by another that said, “It’s going to get better.” Both are intended to point to some place in the hopefully not so distant future. When I checked the word count on my bible software for the word “Today” it came back with 31,703 occurrences. Obviously our bibles put a lot of emphasis on “today” and for good reason. We aren’t promised tomorrow. Like the old saying, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds but I know who holds tomorrow.”

Let me encourage you this morning with this thought. Don’t live with regret, missing out on life today because of the COVID virus. It’s true, we can’t control our circumstances but we can control our attitude towards our circumstances. What if today was as good as it gets? What if life today is the “new normal” and there is no going back to the way things were. I am pretty sure many of those who have lost their lives to COVID-19 would not complain for a minute because they had to wear a mask in public or maintain social distancing as they went about their day. In reading about people who have had near death experiences many have a new found appreciation for life and all the little things they took for granted. I’ve yet to meet anyone who is enjoying all the changes brought about by COVID-19 but my life is richly blessed by so many who are learning to make lemonade out of the lemons life seems to be throwing at us these days.

Back in the old days much of the world lived for the weekend. People couldn’t wait to get off work on Friday and begin their weekend doing all sorts of activities. That was pre-covid. Now, with all the restrictions and fear about public gathering much of society are experiencing depression in record numbers. If you listen close you get this sense that people don’t have much in their lives to look forward too. Maybe there is a lesson here, a silver lining in the clouds that we all need to learn or relearn. Life isn’t always about looking or planning ahead to a day we were never promised . God intended life to be enjoyed now, in the moment.

One thing for certain today in each of our lives  is the opportunity to know God, to experience a closeness with Him that removes the worries, the doubts, the depression and the fear that seeks to creep into our lives when life isn’t going as we had hoped or planned. Covid-19 is no secret to God. Before the world ever was fashioned He knew the virus would be in the world at this time. Let the Covid virus teach us all invaluable lessons about life, what’s important and what’s not. Let’s learn or relearn that though we can't change the circumstances brought on by the virus, we can control our attitudes. And maybe most important, let’s learn to appreciate today as we are alive and that means we can breathe and are capable of worshipping God and singing His praises that when you think about it, melts all our troubles like lemon drops!  


“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!”

Psalm 150:6

I LOVE YOU!

Michael Osthimer

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