If Not Now, When?

I am the owner of three beautiful quilts. One a gift from the women’s auxiliary of the seminary, one a gift from my internship congregation, and one a gift of my home congregation. For the longest time I kept them in storage, living in the hope that they would remain in mint condition. I was saving them for some upcoming occasion, but not really enjoying them.

We tend to think of salvation as some future event that we must strive toward. Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, reminds them that the day of salvation is now! Jesus himself proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand.

After a year or so I took my quilts out of storage and started using them. They are already beginning to show some wear. I could worry about that, but instead, I enjoy the everyday warmth and happiness I get from them. They give me so much more pleasure than they did when they were just a hope of something to come.

Those quilts are a reminder not to accept the gift of God’s grace in vain, but instead, to wrap myself in it and enjoy its warmth every day.

God of salvation, we say your grace is everlasting. Please help us to live like we believe it. Amen. — SWH