Three Reasons Why Christians Should Live In The Moment

“Living in the moment” is a concept that’s idealised in our culture.

We see it in Instagram posts, where you share a captured moment with the hashtag “blessed”. It’s praised in positive psychology as a way of combating anxiety and depression. And it can represent a kind of breezy, bohemian lifestyle that we – in our daily grind – can only aspire to.

For Christians, though, “living in the moment” is a bit more suspicious. We can tend to see it as a way of shirking responsibilities or not caring about outcomes.

In fact, prevalent Christian teachings tend to emphasise not living in the moment. We are “strangers and exiles here” (1 Peter 2:11), we “set our sights on things above” (Colossians 3:1), and “we are in the world, not of it” (John 17:16).

Truthfully, our “best life” isn’t found in the present world. But “living in the moment” is also a Christian spiritual discipline.

The truth is, it is extremely easy not to live in the moment.

We’re in a world of distractions, and it’s very easy not to feel present.

Some of us live in the past, convinced our best years or opportunities have passed us by.

Others live in the future. We are constantly working towards that next goal – a house, a partner, a family, a career – which we believe will make us happy.

But here’s the problem with focusing on the past or the future: They are the parts of time that we can’t control. The past is frozen, and the future hasn’t happened yet. We can’t determine the future, and we can’t change the past.

So when we’re fixated with either one of these, we can perpetually chase shadows. That leads to neglect of what we should be doing in the here and now.

As CS Lewis puts it, we end up:

… a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow’s end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present.

Not embracing the present moment could mean we replace our faith life with good intentions.

But embracing the present isn’t just to help us be more effective witnesses. Here are three other reasons why Christians should embrace the present moment.

It helps us appreciate what’s given to us.

You may have heard the old saying, “Don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers.” This is a reminder that there are good things around you if you just take a second to appreciate them – and gratitude is good for your health.

But for Christians, stopping to “smell the flowers” is not just a feel-good exercise. It’s also a chance to give thanks to God.

When I read Ecclesiastes recently, it really hit me what the Teacher was getting at with his argument about the meaning of life. Firstly, he says that suffering happens to everyone, and death is the same reward for the good and the evil on earth.

But then, he says something surprising:

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 8:15)

The “meaninglessness” of life isn’t a reason for nihilism for the Teacher. True wisdom, here, is knowing that God has given you this moment, whether it’s good or bad. It’s fleeting and it’s a gift to be appreciated.

It reminds us to make the most of opportunities.

CS Lewis suggested that God wants us to focus on two parts of our experience.

The first is our eternity (which means our spiritual lives and our relationship with God). But leaving it there means we may never do any good on earth.

That’s why we need the second lens: our present. That’s the time we have been given.

When we balance our eternal destiny and our present, it means we are better able to put present suffering and joy into perspective. But it also gives us a burden for people and issues in our world, to speak winsomely into them.

This is perhaps what Paul meant by “make the most of every opportunity” (Ephesians 5:16).

It means we rest in God.

Worries are often based in what we can’t control: the past or future. But I’m caught up with worries, I’m not trusting God’s plan for me. To paraphrase Jesus, who has ever added a single hour to their life by fretting about it?

Instead:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

It’s an act of submission to take the present moment and be glad in it, trusting God to keep us in it.

Maybe the old song is true: “Don’t worry, be happy.” But this isn’t just a sanguine outlook on life: Christians have a solid reason to hope and be glad. As monk and theologian Thomas Merton once wrote,

You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognise the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.

We should live in the moment, not for the moment.

Our culture – and even our faith tradition – can easily convince us that it’s better to live somewhere other than the present. My time can be sucked into thinking about yesterday or tomorrow.

But there’s an element of eternity in every moment we’re given. Today, I have breath in my lungs. Today, there’s life to be lived with God by my side.

I just need to take a moment to see it.