Now Is the Accepted Time

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2b).

Now is the instant or moment that separates the past from the future. It is neither past nor future, for it is now. Our "now" moves swiftly through the days, weeks, months, and years—always separating the past from the future. Now is the only time in which we can live and do what we ought to be doing. How "now time" is used or misused will in the end determine our destiny.

Some people use their "now time" to relive the past. Some groan over their mistakes, failures, embarrassments, sins, hurts, and the list goes on. We cannot change the past and we must not use precious "now time" reliving it. The more profitable use of now time is repenting of past sins, forgiving past hurts, correcting what needs to be corrected. Yes, we cannot change the past but we can certainly change our relationship to the past by acting now. We should certainly learn from the past and not repeat our failures, but now is the accepted time to secure our salvation and accomplish what God would have us do.

Then there are those who spend their time dreaming about the future. To spend some "now time" planning ahead is certainly wise, but the first steps to accomplish those plans begin now. Someone has well said that the road to hell is paved by good intentions. Great dreams and plans fail to materialize because we fail to act in the accepted time. We cannot do anything tomorrow until we get there. But we can do something now and what we do now will impact what is accomplished in our tomorrows.

Unfortunately, I love to procrastinate. A preacher used to say that procrastination is a thief of time. And so it is. 72 years of my life has past, and what has been accomplished that was really worthwhile? I also love to dream, but dreams do not accomplish anything unless we act in the accepted time. The accepted time is now. It is true that we cannot do everything at once. But we can do something of value now.

Some folks go over why they cannot be faithful to the Lord in the future. Since we cannot live in the future until our now gets there, we need only to be faithful now. In fact, that is the only time we can serve the Lord. Sometimes we try to live the future now; it's called worry. Jesus said, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew 6:34). Why did Jesus say that? Because it is important that we live now? We need to take care of the issues at hand. Now is the accepted time to live for God.

I have noticed that I and many others waste a great deal of "now time." And what a waste it is. There is a time to work and time to rest, which God has provided in His plan from creation. But let us not flit away the golden moments He has graciously given us each day.

I have been thinking about all of this for some time. I was lying in bed tonight and in my mind I was going over some of these things. I really wanted to put my thoughts down of paper sometime. And suddenly it occurred to me that "now was the accepted time." So I crawled out of bed, sat down at my computer and typed out these words to share with you. It is my desire to use my remaining "now time" for His kingdom and praise. Now it is time to get back to bed and get some sleep.

—Silas Martin