My son tells me stories from the gym. (Yes, I had a gym membership this year. No, I didn’t go regularly, and when I did, I mostly played basketball. Fortunately, I can learn things from my son without actually lifting weights myself. But I digress.)

He says everyone has big plans for what they’re going to lift, and many people have reasons why it didn’t work out the way they’d planned. These are the easy parts: before and after. But when you’re actually in the middle of the lift that you feel like you can’t do, and your body is screaming at you to stop, that’s the moment that makes the difference. And few people are engaging in that moment. Because it’s painful and vulnerable (you look and probably sound weak) and there are a million reasons to give up and you can’t think of any reason to push through. There is little value in planning or debriefing unless it’s lived out in the moment.

I think life is like that. The devil would have us fixate on the past: the mistakes we’ve made, our sinfulness, how we got hurt, what we regret and who we’ll never trust again. And the future: how’s it going to work out, how can I control the outcome, what if it goes badly, how am I going to live. We can spend a ton of energy in those places, but if it doesn’t turn into our “now” changing, it’s all a distraction.

God continually invites us to fix our eyes on eternity, and act in the present. These things matter. These things actually make a difference. The past and the future are outside of our control. But we can choose how to act right now, and we can connect with an eternal kingdom at any time.

So what’s the good in meditating on the past or contemplating the future? Or is it all about the present? A friend of mine put it into perspective for me from 1 Corinthians 13:13 – “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

• Faith comes from the past – hearing what God has said and done prepares us to trust him in this moment

• Hope is about the future – God gives us promises prophetically and in scripture that give us courage and direction in this moment

• Love is in the present and eternal – every moment of the day is a chance to give and receive God’s love, to live vulnerably

Right now, you can love God and others. You can pray, abide, trust, listen, obey, or whatever comes to mind. The key is right now. Not 5 seconds from now when you finish reading this. Not later today. Not in a few minutes. Not soon. Right now.