“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,” Isaiah 55:6-11 NKJV
Father and God of today,
– along with yesterday and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Our very present God (Psalm 46). There are many occasions in the Bible when You did not give Your servants a long range forecast but a challenge for their ‘now’. As Isaiah does here, to seek and call on the Lord in their present circumstances. So You God, can change their future.
You have challenged them to respond in the now on other occasions: “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19) “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”(Joshua 24:15)
Much later, Paul reminds his readers in his second letter to the church in Corinth, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2). They do not need to wait for a better time or season or day, they need to put things right with You and get on with life. Jesus told the criminal next to him,”Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). What a promise in that mans present circumstances!
Procrastination sometimes gives us chance to see if something is too good to be true. But is can stop us from doing something today which we should not leave till tomorrow. Help me know what needs to be done now and what can come later.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Worship Friday 28th August 2026
I am not sure this is a typical ‘worship’ song but it touched me the first time I heard it. It is based on Ephesians 5:16. The chorus often comes to mind when I need to get something done. Seize the day. I have placed her memory of asking Jesus into her heart when she was just 4 below the lyrics.
I know a girl who was schooled in Manhattan
She reads dusty books and learns phrases in Latin
She is an author, or maybe a poet
A genius, but it’s just this world doesn’t know it
She works on her novel most everyday
If you laugh she will say
Chorus:
Seize the day ‘ seize whatever you can
‘Cause life slips away just like hourglass sand
Seize the day ‘ pray for grace from God’s hand
Then nothing will stand in your way
Seize the day
Well I know a doctor, a fine young physician
Left his six figure job for a mission position
He’s healing the sick in an African clinic
He works in the dirt and writes home to the cynics
He says, ‘We work through the night so most everyday
As we watch the sun rise we can say’
Chorus
I know a man who’s been doing some thinking
He’s as bitter and cold as the whiskey he’s drinking
He’s talking ’bout fear, about chances not taken
If you listen to him you can hear his heart breaking
He says, ‘One day you’re a boy and the next day you’re dead
I wish way back when someone had said’
Chorus
Well one thing I’ve noticed wherever I wander
Everyone’s got a dream he can follow or squander
You can do what you will with the days you are given
I’m trying to spend mine on the business of living
So I’m singing my songs off of any old stage
You can laugh if you want ‘ I’ll still say’
Lyrics: Carolyn Arends
“When I was four years old, I heard a Sunday School teacher recite Scripture in a way that captured my heart. My family and I were in Victoria visiting my grandparents. After church we went back to my grandparents’ place for lunch. At some point, I tugged on my mother’s sleeve and asked her to tell me more about John 3:16. She smiled and repeated the verse for me. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” She told me that, if I wanted to, I could be a “whosoever” too. Keen to “not perish,” I nodded my assent.
My mom took me into the living room, a richly upholstered space my grandmother had covered with thick, protective plastic. My mom and I knelt on the plastic carpet runner and put our elbows on the plastic-protected couch, and I asked Jesus into my heart. When we finished, my mom told me the angels in heaven were throwing a party over their newest little convert, and soon my family was too.”