Luke 17



        “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.” 
        Beware of nostalgia.  Jesus warned the disciples that a day would come when they would wish that they could still be with Him walking around Palestine.  It wouldn’t happen.  Life carries on, all the way to The End.  “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.  They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark ….”  It was just another day, until the flood waters swept them all always. 
        Sometimes we get wrapped up in wishing things could be the way they were.  “The world was a better place when I was a child,” people say.  “Life was simpler then.”  Perhaps in some ways, but, on the whole, life is life.  There is nothing new under the sun.  (Ecclesiastes 1:9)  We tend to look to the past with rose-colored glasses, however, and if we’re not careful, looking backward can lead us to not dealing with the present. 
        Don’t hear what I’m not saying.  We should learn from history, but we must not get so wrapped up in it that we fail to live in the present. 
        The Pharisees wanted to know when the kingdom of God would come.  The disciples wanted to know where.  Jesus’ comparison to being unworthy servants, however, teaches us to simply do our duty.  Walk by faith.  Live in forgiveness.  Hear the Word.  Pray.  Be witnesses.  Give thanks.  Do not get wrapped up in the way things used to be, or in what will be. 
        There is a saying that goes, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery.  Today is a gift; that is why it's called the present."  We live in God’s love today.  This moment is filled with His grace.  We get to be witnesses of Jesus’ salvation to this generation.   This life and this time are the only opportunity people have to hear and believe that Jesus loved them so much that He died to pay for their sins.  His past action – His death and resurrection – are a gift for our present reality, making us forgiven sinners.

Lord, help me live in your grace and be Your witness day by day.  Amen.

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