1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in
vain.2 For he says,
"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you."
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
You know the scene. Coconut trees growing along white sand beaches. Clear blue water beneath cloudless skies. Lazy days spent lying in a hammock enjoying salty ocean breezes. Paradise. We all imagine it. Some days we long for it. Until we experience it.
When I climbed from the dugout canoe, I quickly realized that what had looked so idyllic from the air wasn’t paradise at all. The sand was dirty, polluted by the human and animal refuse of island inhabitants. The clear water made it easy to see the discarded bottles, cans, tires (where did these come from?), and other garbage surrounding the island. The thatched roof of the bamboo hut was alive with insects that stormed my hammock (and me) while I slept. We had to be constantly protected from the harsh rays of the tropical sun. And wear repellent against the insects. And boil our water. And hope and pray that the water pipes didn’t break. Again.
It seems that a common malady of humankind is the tendency to convince ourselves that someplace else is better than wherever we happen to be at the time. Or the chronological equivalent—that tomorrow will be better than today.
There certainly are times when tomorrow really will be better than today! After an accident, lying in bed with pain as a constant, we certainly hope tomorrow will be better. And there are places—hospitals, jails, or abusive relationships—that certainly are more difficult than other places. But most of the time, our dreaming of better places and times are simply excuses to ridicule, avoid, or criticize the time and place where we are. We fall prey to the "If only" excuse for failing to accomplish what we should with the opportunities before us.
The Apostle Paul was rebutting the Judaizers who were attempting to convince the Christians that there was still more necessary for salvation—that the time of God’s grace had not yet come and that the requirements of the ceremonial law were necessary for salvation. These Jews professed to be Christians, yet constantly undermined Paul’s message of salvation by grace and the acceptance of Gentile believers into the Kingdom of God—apart from the works of the Law. In contrast to their message that the time wasn’t right and that more was required for salvation, Paul was proclaiming that the time is now and that Christ’s sufficiency was all that was necessary!
Regardless of our situation or circumstances today, God is ready and able to use us, and there will be no better time to submit ourselves to Him than today! More isn’t necessary, and another time isn’t better. Another location won’t make the difference. God desires that we make ourselves available to Him today, offer Him what we are and have right now, and choose to serve Him right where we are. So, let’s drop the dreams of better places, gentler times, and ideal circumstances. Let’s just serve Him here, today, in the situation where we are.
After all, when we get to that place we imagined, it isn’t like we imagined it at all. I went to Paradise; and it wasn’t.
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