I heard a statement today at church that gave me pause. “You can’t plant seeds today, if you are still living in yesterday.” What a profoundly true statement. We all have memories of the yesterday’s of our lives. There are many different types of memories that all combine to make us who we are, what we think, how we act, what we value, how we love, etc. In those memories are events we cherish, such as the day we married, or the day our children were born, the day we came to know Christ, the day we graduated, etc. and many other such milestones of our lives. Each of these are the cornerstones upon which are lives are then built. Precious moments, indeed, and are the types of memories that likely gave us reasons to keep moving forward and planting healthy seeds in our lives and in the lives of those around us. These are not the memories that keep us living in yesterday.
Living in yesterday means that we continue to allow something painful from our past to steal a measure of life from us today. This experience could be something- we did, someone did to us, that happened to us, we saw, a great loss, etc. Whatever they are, they are the sorrows of life that hold us hostage and continue to grip our hearts. These memories have altered us and stolen life-giving seeds from us. These types of events have happened to all of us. We all have our stories to tell. But, the question is, how long will we continue to allow them to dominate the landscape of our life? For us to be truly happy, we have to become a whole, life-giving person. Scripture calls this being “holy”. We are called to holiness.
God’s plan for us is to grow to a place where we know Him, trust Him and lean on Him for and in everything (Prov 3:5-6). As believers, the events of our lives all work to transform us to holiness, to be God-like in what we do, how we act, the type of seeds we plant, etc. Doesn’t it make more sense for us to cooperate with the process than to allow the circumstances of it to weigh us down and make us non-participants in what God is wanting to do in our life? We all have stories to tell of events in our lives that caused us pain, but they don’t have to define who we are and how we live today. God is able to take those events, heal the pain of them and blend them into the garden of our life as fuel for growth, instead of poison. We just have to invite Him into those memories and let Jesus heal them. One by one, as the Holy Spirit reminds us of those events, if we will give them up, Jesus will make us whole and allow us to let go of yesterday, live in today, and be excited about our tomorrows.
1 Peter 1:13-16 (MSG) So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” It is our choices that make us who we are. We can always choose to do what’s right. Be holy! Plant seeds today, by letting go of yesterday.
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