More than the moment:

Over the Easter week, I went on an amazing trip with a friend, Daniel, to the Gran Sabana in the South East of Venezuela. It’s a landscape unlike any other on earth, and it inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write his famous book, The Lost World, about a hidden land of dinosaurs and other prehistoric species. I really could identify with that perception when one morning we swam alone below a 60 meter-high waterfall, with birds flying above, crying and dancing between the two cascades. When another friend arrived, we walked further along the river, before walking up the hill to one side, where we could see the waterfall, the campsite above it, and in the distance, behind, one of the Tepuis. These are unique, huge table-top mountains that dot the plain, and are unique to the region. In the afternoon we went down to the falls again, this time with other people, and Daniel and I found a ledge and passed behind the cascade of water. That day for me was the highlight of the trip – truly amazing. At the end of the week, on the journey back to civilization, Daniel and I had a long discussion about life and God and those things. Daniel is a Jew who doesn’t really believe in God – at least not a God that he is prepared to look for. But that night there was one thing he said which really caught my attention:

‘Lo que me importa es el actual, lo que estoy viviendo ahorita’.

Translated into English, that’s something like: ‘what matters to me is the present, that which I’m experiencing right now.’


Living in the moment:

Daniel actually taught me something. He is generally someone who is relaxed, spontaneous and a lot of fun to be with. I am a person who thinks a lot, and who can waste a lot of time over-thinking decisions. Some people call it ‘the paralysis of analysis.’ If I’m honest, often I think of God as a perfectionist, who always expects me to make the right decision, and becomes angry with me when I don’t. This makes me very scared of making mistakes in life; not so much because I can’t handle the consequences, as because I fear displeasing Him. In my weakest moments that decision could be about which product to buy in the supermarket, or whether to go swimming or not: you know, really stupid things. But God is not like that. He sent His only Son to die for all my sins – including all the very worst things that I have done – and I think He is really bothered about whether I splash out the extra 50p to go ‘super size’. When you think about it, it’s kind of an insult to His character. He is generous, kind, patient, merciful, gracious, loving and so much more, and yet in my relationship with Him, I treat Him like he is always ready to get angry if I stuff up. If your friends treated you like that you’d get fed up with them.
Thankfully, God is more patient than we are.

Realising that God is patient and loving – and all those other things – also frees us from the fear of negative consequences. In Jeremiah 29:11, God says to his people that he has plans to prosper them, and not to harm them. He has promised us that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus said that nobody could snatch his sheep out of His hand (John 10:27-29). We have a lot of promises that tell us that God will look after us. Yes, we know that bad things happen. Sometimes we make mistakes and have to live with them. But ultimately, we are assured that nothing can separate us from the love that God has for us in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39). If you are a Christian you know that even if your relationships fall apart, if you lose your job, if you face persecution, if all your dreams are torn to shreds, or even if you die, God will be with you. And he won’t just be with you; He’ll be loving you and restoring you.

Knowing all this frees us to live in the moment, and to make decisions without all our hair falling out from the stress. It really is good to know that we don’t have to get everything right – Jesus Christ has already done that on our behalf. Our acceptance before God is not dependent upon our perfection, but on the perfection of Him who died for our sins. Equally, we do not have to fear the consequences of every action, as though one slip might bring our life crashing down around us. We have better promises than that, and we trust that as we follow God He will complete his purpose in our lives. So we can relax a little. We can be spontaneous. We can laugh and cry with our friends. We can be generous. We can be kind. We don’t always have to stick to the routine. We are not confined to religious protocol. We are free to live a life that is disciplined and productive but not bound by rules. We can really enjoy the adventure of pursuing a relationship with our Creator.


Living for something beyond the moment:

Just as Daniel taught me something, I wish I could also teach Him something. What I would teach him is this: your life is more than this moment, and your decisions do have consequences. I wish I could open his mind and show him that our decisions on earth determine our eternal destiny. Jesus told a parable (a kind of story with a meaning) about two men who each built their own house. You can find this story in the bible in Matthew 7:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

In this story, the men’s houses represented their lives. Your life is not just a series of moments; it is something that you build – like a house. A house must have good foundations. In the parable, however, there is one man who builds his house on sand. ‘That’s foolish’, you might think – but it’s much easier than building a foundation on rock. Building with rock is hard work, and requires dedication and a sense of purpose. The person who only thinks about the present moment chooses sand. It’s exactly the same with a child who arrives at the beach and wants to have fun: he does not take a chisel; he takes a bucket and a plastic spade. The child has a good time, but when the water comes everything he has built is destroyed. That is roughly what happened to the man who built his house on sand. And that, according to Jesus, is also what happens to everyone who does not build their life on a proper foundation.

You see, the bible makes it absolutely clear that there is a final judgement. That is what the storm represents in the parable. As John Ortberg points out, both of the builders faced exactly the same event. Equally, every man ‘is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement.’ There is no escaping such an event: it is inevitable; but we have the opportunity to prepare ourselves for it, so that we might not suffer loss. Some preachers talk about the storm as being a difficult happening in life, like an illness. Whilst it’s true that we need a foundation to face such events, Jesus seems to be referring to something more universal, more decisive. One of the continual threads in his preaching was the urgency of seeking God while He can be found, because there is a point when the opportunities end. None of us knows when that will be. The storm will come; and in that moment you must be ready. The man who built his house on the sand was not.

But there is good news as well in the story. One of the builders was prepared for the storm, and his house survived. His life had the right foundation. This is a message of grace. Notice how Jesus did not talk about the excellent quality of the man’s handiwork: He talked about the foundation. Paul writes that:

‘No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ (1 Corinthians 3:11)

Everything we do matters. Our decisions in the present affect eternity. The most important of these decisions is whether to place your life on the foundation of Jesus Christ. The moment you trust your life to Him, He moves it from the sand to the rock. You have the assurance that when the storm comes, you will not be destroyed. You will be saved. Beyond that, you have the opportunity to build a life that is worth something. You will not have to look back at your life and weep because of the all the wasted opportunities. You will be able to look back and thank God that you were able to build something beautiful that is rewarded in eternity. Opportunities pass, but your decisions remain with you.


Pete