“Seize the day” with your head… not your hand.
John 10:7-10
Carpe Diem.
It was the Roman poet, Horace, way back in 23 B.C., that coined the phrase we now commonly refer to as “Seize the Day”.
In Odes, his book of poetry, the original Latin phrase was “carpe diem quam minimum credula postero” which translates in English to “pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the next one.”
Maybe it’s just me but, “Pluck the Day” doesn’t sound as good as “Seize the Day”… so I’m gonna roll with that.
By the way, when I think of the word “pluck”, I think of a chicken… which automatically causes my mind to wander down the tasty road of a gastronomical activity that includes fried, baked, and roasted.
So, let’s not go there… unfortunately.
When I think of the word “seize”, I think of grabbing something. In my mind, I’m picturing something that might be getting away from me, unless I take action to snatch it, literally.
Either way, whether I’m seizing, grabbing, plucking, or eating, I’m using my hands to possess the thing I’m after.
These days, we use the phrase “Seize the Day” as motivation to make the most of today – to get as much accomplished as possible.
But the thing we’re trying to seize – the day, aka how you live your life and the fruit that comes from it, can’t be taken by force. We can’t grab it physically and wrestle it into submission. As a dimension of time, we can only use it… once.
(I’d also mention that only you can seize your day. Likewise, you can’t seize anyone else’s… as much as you might want to.) 🙂
Today’s Tiny Words. Big Life. Bible verse comes from the mouth of Jesus and is delivered to the Pharisees, who were up to their usual task of trying to catch Jesus doing or saying something that would give them a legitimate and legal excuse to seize him.
In this case, Jesus had healed a blind man by putting some mud, made with His own saliva, on his eyes. He then instructed the man to go to Siloam, a pool of water frequented by Jews, to wash his face – which he did.
The Pharisees learned of this miracle based on the blind man’s own account of what happened. Rather than the miracle itself, the Pharisees were most interested in the fact that the miracle was performed on the Jewish Sabbath, which was breaking Jewish law since no work was allowed to be done on that day.
After the Pharisees called the man in for questioning a second time, with his parents in tow to vouch for his medical history, the blind man stated the famous words we know as “I was blind but now I see!“.
The Tiny Words. Big Life. takeaway is this: Pray to seize each day through the word of God. Pray to make every second of every day count. Pray to live in the moment for Christ – to not be caught up in the things of the world going on around us. Pray to not allow the past to control how you live today. Finally, pray to be like the blind man. After the mud was placed on his eyes, Jesus instructed him to do something – and he did it.
Back to seizing something – it does require action that you, and only you, can do.
And the next time you sit down to a basketful of fried chicken, you’d better look over your shoulder because if I’m around, I’m gonna be seizing the drumstick!
John 10:7-10
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.