Now

Northern Ireland has the best desserts. A few weeks ago, I was eating them there with friends. We discussed the merits of sharing food. My friend Cathy is up for it; Andrew basically thinks that this is a euphemism for robbery. I am with Cathy because I struggle with FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. It is deeply distressing to me when your pudding arrives and looks tastier than mine. What a relief to order the plateful of mini desserts to share!

I even get FOMO over Christian events – that great talk I missed, that conference I couldn’t attend.

As if God was only available for a day or a weekend.

I sometimes wonder if we treat the great celebrations of the Church like that – as if God shows up at Christmas and Easter and Pentecost and if you miss it, you’ve missed out. No, no, no.  

We heard at Christmas that Jesus is Immanuel which means God with us. He still is.

We declared at Easter,“The Lord is risen!”  He still is.

Last week, we celebrated the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Did you miss it? Don’t worry! God says,

"Sing about a fruitful vineyard! I the Lord water it CONTINUALLY; I keep it day and night."

( Isaiah 27:3)

The gift of Holy Spirit isn’t a one-off. Our gardener continually waters the vine.  The Spirit is continually poured to all whose hearts are open.  

Our God is a constant God, continually tending us, continually guarding us, continually teaching us, continually keeping us as the apple of his eye. (Deuteronomy 32:10)

That means now.

So we don’t need to fear missing out; right now, God offers himself to all who turn to him. As Andrew Murray writes in “Abide in Christ”,

“In that little word “now” lies one of the deepest secrets of the life of faith…  This is indeed the secret of rest and victory. If I can say, ‘Jesus is to me at this moment, all that God gave Him to be – life, and strength and peace’ …for that moment, I have what I need.”