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UC Chimes: Yesterday, today and tomorrow

Christmas day is around the corner. A week later, a new year will arrive. Time keeps on ticking. Day time is getting shorter and shorter. During a long night time, all kinds of thoughts and memories are bombarding our minds.

Christmas day is around the corner. A week later, a new year will arrive. Time keeps on ticking. Day time is getting shorter and shorter. During a long night time, all kinds of thoughts and memories are bombarding our minds. Some are things that have happened recently, but some are things that happened a long time ago and are seldom remembered.

The longer the night time is, the more miscellaneous things in the mind retrieves from the past. Some are happy moments, some are shameful things and some are still bothersome things. Anyway, they are things done yesterday, in the past. In a long winter night, it is not good to only think about yesterday.

Even in a long winter, a new day begins with dawn. At the dawn, a new day arises. A very fresh and very brand new day is today. It is so fresh and brand new that nobody has ever lived it before. Each day is so thrilling and wonderful that nobody can hold onto a day. Today is the only day that you and I are able to live, take and enjoy. "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). Indeed, it is God's blessing for everyone, and anyone, who is able to live, rejoice and be glad in today that nobody has ever lived this day before, from the beginning of human history. So it is the most precious privilege and the best gift of God for those who are able to live today. No matter what, people have to live day by day, today!

In the middle of day, it is worth remembering that how many people had wished to live until today among all those who had gone before? How many people might have lived until today, but could not have due to incomprehensible reasons for us, or unfortunate accidents? Nevertheless there are no special reasons or merit points to explain why you and I have to have the privilege and advantage that we are still here; we are enjoying our life in the middle of the day. Being able to live today is far more than good luck or chance. Truly it is God's grace and mercy on each of us so that we may find out the meaning and purpose of living today. "See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!" (2 Cor. 6:2b)

In the evening, it is already dark outside. It was a good day. It was a busy day; something in it may not have been quite right but today is almost over. Because we had a good day today, we look forward to another good day, tomorrow. Depending on how and what today has been, tomorrow may be a quite different day. Each day and every day, that makes our whole life's journey. Time keeps ticking on. In time, there is no yesterday and no tomorrow, it is always here and now, the present, today. Today is almost gone, tomorrow will be today soon. No matter what, who and where they are, anyone and everyone has to live today. That is God's general grace and justice for the whole people of the world. Every day is new day. So we can live new life each day and every day. Thanks be to God who lets us to live today.