The Next Day

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.     (Hebrews 3:12-13 TNIV)

This morning I had the pleasure of spending time together with my mom.  She is here from Cincinnati visiting us over the Easter weekend (plus a couple days).  We were reminiscing about days gone by, talking about our ministries, and sharing how we are doing today.  Toward the end of the conversation we reminded ourselves what a great day it was yesterday.  We celebrated Christ's resurrection, brought a new "brother" into the family through baptism, and enjoyed time together as a family.  The church service particularly affected us because it seemed God's Spirit was moving in powerful ways throughout the morning.

I began thinking...what was "the next day" like for the apostles?  We have no accounting of this day in Scripture. The Gospel writers share nothing about that Monday.  We have accounts of Easter, eight days later (John 20:26), and later still (John 21:1ff).  We know that his appearances occurred over a 40 day period (Acts 1:3) before he ascended into heaven and that there was more time before he returned in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Why, then, am I focusing on the next day?  I guess it is because most of life is lived on "the next day."  It's so easy to get a skewed view of walking with God by reading the exciting stories of Scripture.  It's easy to forget that the miracles, prophecies, and fulfillment events are the exception rather than the rule for the people who lived in those days.  It's true for us, as well.

Most of life is lived "between".  We live between Easter and Christmas and Sundays and Graduations and Weddings and Children's' Births and New Jobs and Promotions and New Houses and New Cars and...and...and.  Walking with God goes beyond the day we get all dressed up as a family and attend church services together before the egg-hunt.  It's the life we live on Monday, when we're sitting around the kitchen table getting ready for our day.  It's the conversations we have on Wednesday afternoon when we really want the work week to be over while realizing we are only half-way there.  It's the decisions we make on Friday night when we know we don't need to get up in the morning, it's dark out, and we don't think anyone is looking.

Walking with God is all about the steps we take on the days between the big events.  It's all about "today." Yesterday is gone and tomorrow hasn't arrived yet.  How will you spend your "today?"