How do we live

within the bounds

of today?

God made time

and placed us within it.

Though He is

omnipresent,

he chose for us

not to be.

We fight that

limitation.

These days we can be

everywhere,

almost,

at once.

Like Pippin

with the Palantir,

the temptation

to know all,

see all,

wars within

our finite self.

But what if

our not-knowing,

some may say,

our ignorance,

or our innocence,

is a gift?

What if today’s

boundaries of

time and space

are a gift to us

from an all-knowing,

kind Father?

What if our daily

ins and outs

are not meant

for the purpose of

broadcasting

to boast,

or perform

or promote

ourselves

as we compete

and compare

and collect

applause

like a begger child

tucking away

the scraps

from the days collection

when the Father’s house

is waiting

full for us?

What if we

became small

so He

could become

great?

So here’s what I want you to do,

God helping you:

Take your everyday, ordinary life—

your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—

and place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.

Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.

Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.

Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity,

God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12: 1-2

What if my limited,

time-bound, right-here,

fully present life

is an offering to God?

What if I am an offering to God?

What life am I offering to Him?

A life where I am constantly comparing

my life to other people’s lives,

subconsciously of course…

Am I offering a life struggling to be content

with the space and time

He has chosen to give me

right now?

Am I always with my eyes to the great beyond

and itching for anything BUT

this, here, now?

Am I offering him a

distracted life?

A hurried one?

An addicted one?

A spread too thin one?

A life rattled with worry

cause my purposefully created and

confined mind is aching

with the weight of too much

knowledge beyond

here, now?

If I see my life

as a sacrifice,

an offering of love

to the One who graciously

gave it to me,

how will that change

how I live within the bounds

of today?

What if each day

holds more purpose

than we can fathom,

and it requires us

fully awake and fully present

to actually live

the adventure of today

with God?

What if being bound

to the ground beneath my feet

and the view before my eyes

isn’t binding,

but freeing?

What if it’s a boundary with

great INTENTION

for our good?

What if it’s

the something real

we are craving?

A real, living sacrifice

to lay down daily

at the feet of Jesus.

A life lived fully

for His glory,

not mine.

Father, help me to live within the boundaries of today.

My heart longs to make peace

with the limitations and boundaries

you gave me by design,

to be fully present to Your beautiful Presence,

to fully accept what you have set before me,

to be fully content with my present,

fully giving glory to You,

truly being Your

living sacrifice.

Amen.