My One Word: Week Three

Today's blog is brought to you by the letter "P," and the number "3!"

Today's word is "present." And not the kind you get for Christmas or your birthday. I'm talking about the time: right now. "Now" was almost my word for this week, but even I don't know what I'd do with it. I came upon this word when I was sitting on the couch yesterday, feeling puny because of a relentless sinus headache that ravaged me from 9 am till 10:30 pm. And as I was sitting there, I kept thinking about all of the things around the house that I'd let pile up and that I could have taken care of yesterday. Stuff like laundry, and dishes, and even the Christmas lights still hanging up on the tree in our front yard. Yes. Still.
BAM! And it hit me: if I'd taken care of those things when they had arisen, my headache would still be around, but the feeling of a wasted day would be lessened. I knew then and there that I had been living in that time between times where you go, "I'll do that little bit tomorrow," and then tomorrow you add to the problems instead of resolving them, even though you're adding only a little bit at a time. That's still the wrong answer.
I have to live more in the present! If I take care of today's tasks and issues today, then tomorrow I don't have to worry about today's and tomorrow's to-do's. Then, on the weekends, I can sleep in, kill a headache, and not feel worse because I also killed a perfectly good day that could have been spent productively.
2 Tim 2:15 says this: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." There's that word again: "present." If I utilize my time wisely, doing things as they come up and not pushing them aside until the next opportunity rolls around, then I'd feel like a pretty unashamed workman. But this verse takes it further. I also have to handle the "word of truth" correctly. So, not only am I responsible to work hard today, I also have the responsibility of keeping my walk with God up-to-date. And now, since Kara and I are about to step boldy into that weird, wide world of Christian counseling, I've got to be even more prepared so that others can see God in me and through me. That's my responsibility as a Christian. And it's something that has to be attended to right now, in the present.