Seize the Day

Today I posted a youtube video of Christian singer/songwriter, Carolyn Arends, a favorite of mine on Facebook. The song I posted is “Seize the Day.” Whenever I hear the song I have one of two responses. I will feel empowered to step out of my comfort zone and not give a rip about what anyone thinks of how I serve the Lord. The other is deep regret over lost days, which in my life have been many.

The chorus is “Seize the day, seize whatever you can, ‘cause life slips away just like hourglass sand. Seize the day, pray for grace from God’s hand then nothing will stand in your way, seize the day.” I drowned in alcohol and was wasted on drugs for fifteen years. Not one day of those years was lived for anyone but me. Remorse overwhelms the present and I get derailed, unable to function. I don’t lose faith in God, I lose faith in myself. Suddenly the bright future of living for the Lord and being a conduit of his grace gets clogged and I isolate from my brothers and sisters in Christ. Worse, I isolate from my Redeemer, keenly aware of years misspent and irretrievable.

Seize the day. King David asked the Lord to teach him to number his days, knowing God had allotted only so much time for humans to live. I think what David meant was teach him how not to waste his days. He understood the average lifespan was miniscule in relation to eternity and what we do and how we live have eternal consequences.

Those who have been washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb and believe they are forgiven and made righteous by the grace of God should have no fear. The apostle Paul said perfect love casts out fear for fear implies punishment. If we fear we have not yet reached perfection in love. Can anyone claim to have absolutely no fear? I don’t think so. There are things in life that cause us to tremble, not the least of which is keeping our eyes fixed on our sins instead of fixed upon our Savior.

If anyone demonstrated a lifestyle of seizing each day, it was Jesus. He wasted no words, actions or prayers. He wasted no time or pity on those, such as the Pharisees, who willingly closed their ears to his words of life, and lavished it all on sinners who knew they had no chance of gaining heaven. Those who longed for hope and forgiveness, who prayed to see the day of the Messiah.

After his death and resurrection, misconceptions about what the Messiah’s true purpose was became clear and literally thousands came to believe unto salvation in just one day by the working of the Holy Spirit. The early believers possessed a zeal and fervor that would make some Christians today uncomfortable. And they seized the days they were granted, carrying the message of salvation to the known world. Persecuted and doomed to horrible deaths, they faced down fear and praised the Lord for allowing them to be martyrs.

For those like me, who have a shameful past, seizing the day becomes all the more necessary to move beyond fear and to break the shackles that bind us to wasted time. The key is in finding the ways in which sin-ridden pasts can work for the increasing of the kingdom of God. In his kingdom, nothing is wasted, not even sin. All works together in ways we cannot fathom now, but will be revealed at the right time. So seize the day and all that comes your way. The past is paid for. The future is yet to unfold, but one day at a time, with God’s grace we can overcome all that stands in our way, as long as we fix our gaze on Jesus, and not on ourselves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lmqtYR5tJo