Colossians 4:5

James Galloway comments on the need to live in today and make the most of it!

James Galloway

This new start to the new season of autumn is always one of my favourites. When children go back to school and the summer holidays are concluded people generally re-align their focus and push on toward the end of the year with upbeat tones.

For me it is exactly the same. The church that I'm privileged to lead has continued to grow and we are launching into a seriously exciting season including the possibilities of building a 2,000 seater facility on a five acre site in the centre of our city. With people coming back from holidays there is always fresh zeal and passion to 'get in there and make it happen'.

My encouragement to you, the reader, would be simply this: autumn is a fresh season and the ideal opportunity to re-align focus and 'get in there and make it happen'. Here are three thoughts on your fresh start:

1. What happened yesterday doesn't have to happen again. The great thing about fresh starts is exactly that - they are fresh. Stop thinking about what could have been or regrets and start thinking upon what can happen in your tomorrow. The future months are untouched and desperate for your expression of life to be portrayed, like a canvas in front of an artist. These next few months could be the most fruitful that you have ever experienced.

2. See things from a positive perspective. You must never focus on what can go wrong. When I drive down the A500, I don't spend my time focusing on the things that I want to avoid, I focus on where I want to go. It is many a person's failing when they focus on what they want to avoid; instead focus on the horizons and opportunities that are ahead of you.

3. Realise that you have a today. One of the amazing things I find in working with thousands of people every week is most people are camped in one of two places - either their past or their future. Both are fundamentally a mistake. Our past, in reality has not got a hold on us. Our future is important but to live there is to daydream. The reality is that we only have our today so we should embrace what scripture says when we're instructed to, 'make the most of every opportunity' (Colossians 4:5). Today is important. don't waste it.

In conclusion, it is my personal belief that we live in the most exciting generation that has ever existed and our future is yet to be written. Every season has its highs and lows. My encouragement to you would be that, whatever season of life you maybe in, choose to move forward and know that the sun always rises in the morning and that God is on his throne. I would love it if you, as I will, decide to enjoy the season and live expectant of what the coming months hold. It will soon be Christmas and that is another season altogether!