Missing Moments

How many moments have I missed?  I don’t even want to think about it. Life is always more when you don’t miss moments. Time is irreversible. All our moments are unrepeatable moments. Missing moments is not optional for those of us who need every God-moment  that lies ahead of us.

A scribe comes to Jesus and says, “Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest” (Matthew 8:19). The response of Jesus is a classic, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head”. This young man wanted to follow Jesus. He  has the sincerity. He calls Jesus “Master”. He declares his commitment, “I wil follow thee”. His sincerity is not in question. The lack  of sincerity is not the problem. Sincere people, however, miss moments all the time. We are sincere, even when we are sincerely wrong.

This young law student brought sincerity and intensity to his desire to join Jesus. He says, “I will follow theee whithosover thou goest”. He is all the way in. He wants to maximize his life and times with Jesus. He’s up for whatever lies ahead. Intensity is not the problem. Hard-working, industrious people miss their moments, too. Intensity is not enough to capture your moment. Intensity can be misguided energy.

So what do we need to do in order to not miss another God-moment? Listen to Jesus. “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nest…”. This is not Jesus stating the obvious or announcing his homelessness. Jesus says to those who have sincerity and intensity that we must have adaptabilty. Jesus says in essence, “The foxes tonight will go back to where they began their day. The birds that have soared throughout the day wil return to where they began their day, but those that want to be in the moment with Me have to have adaptibility”.

Jesus was ready to be in the moment with Father at all times. He was not going back. He was moving forward. His security was being in the will of God. His abode was in the moment. That’s where Jesus lived. He lived in the moment.

The rigid, the intellectual, the traditionalist, the conformist, the hard-liners will never follow Jesus. They cannot stand the idea of living on the move and in the moment. Movement undermines their control. Movement means they have to stay in motion. Staying in motion means we have to be kept a little uncomfortable. We find ourselves packing and unpacking, never quite knowing what’s next. We are left to live moment by moment.

That’s how Jesus wants it. He wants us trusting Him, living by faith. He wants us following. He wants us missionary, not stationary!