Now
This little three-letter word is very powerful if you think about it.
Ever heard the old saying, "There's no time like the present?"
Now refers to the present moment in time. This moment in time, which we all have at present, is a "Now" moment. What we do with all of our "Now" moments is a big deal.
God is not bound by the boundaries of time, but here on this earth we are, and it is the currency of heaven, so to speak. While God need not worry about time, we must consider it. If we waste the time we possess in the "Now" on trying to do something about the past or thinking only about the future, we lose an opportunity to sow well in our "Now' moments.
We cannot go back and redo something from our past. Nor can we skip ahead to the future. We have no choice but to learn how to live in the "Now" moments of life well.
Where can we start to ensure we're capitalizing on our "Now" opportunity?
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
This verse reveals that Jesus did something meant to invade our "Now" moments continually. He changed our position, our reference point, our starting and staying point for life. We are "Now" in a person, a very real person with very great power, and Who has accomplished something through His obedience to the Father. When we understand our position in Him, it changes our perspective on our "Now" moments.
However, this will not be our experience if we choose to walk according to the flesh rather than according to the Spirit.
The word walk is an interesting one, as it is used here. It means to be occupied with, to live. In other words, if we live from a place of trusting in our own ability rather than trusting in what Christ has done and leaning on His strength, we will not live aware of our "Now" promise and will likely suffer from the maladies of uncertainty, confusion, shame, and, yes, condemnation.
The enemy will be able to have a field day with us in our souls because we are not occupied with the Spirit thinking on things above and not having any confidence in our flesh. This is what happens to us when we allow a mixture of law and grace to visit our souls and occupy our thoughts. We often find ourselves agreeing with a verdict of guilty and then being sentenced to a period of time we think is necessary to pay the penalty for whatever we believe ourselves guilty of.
I call it the anti-freedom. Jesus came to set us free, and He who the Son sets free is free indeed. To get off the roller coaster ride that mixture produces, one needs to acknowledge their weakness in the flesh and revel in the finished work of Christ on their behalf and take charge of the "Now" of their life by getting the gospel right, getting the gospel in, and then getting the gospel out. There is "Now" no condemnation to those who are in Christ! What's in your "Now?"
