I often receive a theological thought from the most unexpected places. Recently my eldest son was watching the movie “Anchor Man 2”. There was a line in the movie that Steve Carell, who plays the part of a “not-so-with-it” weather man, said. I’m thinking he was pretty “with-it” when he said it.
I’ve shared it with my husband, and he agreed on the depth of Carell’s character’s answer. On the way to the boat the other day, I turned it into a short devotional for my three children. Last Friday I used the line again with the students in our Tigers for Christ gathering at school. You could see the heads shake and smiles come across their faces in agreement when I went on and expanded upon the phrase..
Now, I know that there are moments when you can’t honestly say the response with confidence. Then, there are instances when you can’t help but smile in concurrence.
Okay, so here’s the line:
“What is your favorite time of day?”
“Now.”
I first misquoted it when I told Tim about it. I said, “Right now.” I think I like my interpretation a little better. (wink*wink)
When I was using this in the devotional with my children, we were stuck in traffic. Tim replied, “Well, I don’t think I would say ‘Right now’ is my favorite time of day.” I laughed and we talked about how you’ve got to make lemonade out of lemons sometimes. So we veered away from the traffic onto some back-roads that we had never traveled before. We kept moving, saw new places, and reached our destination.
Again…while on the beach that same day, our friend, Kim, faintly saw a sailboat offshore, in the midst of a heavy storm, and replied, “Well, I don’t think those people would say that ‘Right now” is their favorite time of day.” Once more… laughter and agreement.
Now let’s ponder on this for a moment:
- We can’t go back in time. Words are said, life happens, and it is now history. Even just one second ago is now history. As much as we would probably like to go back and redo a few things in our lives, it’s too late. So what are we going to do about it NOW? Make a difference. Make a memory. Learn from our mistakes. Treasure each priceless moment. Live. Love. Laugh. Cry. Forgive. Remember. Keep living. Share. Love some more. Embrace each moment.
- We don’t know what the future holds. We can prepare for situations, but we truly don’t know what will happen. Even Jesus is anxiously waiting for His Heavenly Father to say, “Go NOW and gett’em, Boy.” Only God knows what tomorrow may bring. But one thing is for sure, when all is said and done, you will either be in Heaven or Hell. I am so grateful to know that I will be in Heaven. That’s a future that I am definitely looking forward to.
- Right NOW is a time to smile, cherish, reflect, and be right with God.
Just like your “right now” may be like the sailboat and in the middle of a storm, “This too shall pass”.
Normally if someone were to ask me that question, “What is your favorite time of day?” I would most likely say sunrise or sunset. But now, “right now”, I’m thinking that I need to embrace the time that I have in front of me NOW.
How can I not post Matthew 6:34 from The Message translation:
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.“
I pray many blessings and much joy for you! Have a wonderful day. – Stephanie
Okay….I was sooo excited to NOT post this journal entry that I actually finished yesterday. God had a plan. This morning the sermon that Dr. Brain Stowe preached went perfectly with the thought of “Right now”. (See my sermon notes and where I inserted the phrase “right now” a few times. And then…at the end of our church service, we were told about an email we received this morning from the church that allows us access to a huge, streaming, online, access-on-any-device library…(see picture of the email). Guess what the name of the company is that offers this service to us… “RightNow Media”. Ha! How awesome is that?! God’s so cool!
