Published on 09/12/2006

Whatever the day's news brings, here's a fact which won't change: Jesus is still Lord.

Commentary

Years ago, when I was teaching on the faculty of Southwestern Seminary, a student gave me an old-fashioned plastic calendar--you click the button, and the next day's number flips down. I've kept it on the desk of my study ever since. This morning I clicked the button to change the date from 11 to 12, from 9-11 to 9-12. If only it were that easy.

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that a left-behind BlackBerry forced an airplane's emergency landing yesterday. A suspect parcel briefly shut down New York's Penn Station. President Bush appeared on national television last night to state that ending terror is "the calling of our generation." Meanwhile, an al Jazeera broadcast warned that Israel and Gulf States are al Qaeda's next targets.

How did you feel when you got up this morning? Relieved that 9-11 passed without a major tragedy? Wanting to get on with life as usual? Realizing that you really can't? Feeling guilty that you want to? I felt all of that today. For the families of those lost five years ago, life will never be as it was. For the families of those who have died or been wounded in the war on terror in the five years since, the tragedy is a present-tense reality. For the rest of us, the world has changed in ways we are still coming to understand.

Can you think of a day when the news was not affected by 9-11? This morning's Journal reports that airline flights this summer were busy, but you still cannot bring bottled water on board or toothpaste in your carry-on luggage. Today's New York Times carries the warning that political stability in western Iraq will continue to deteriorate unless more troops are sent. Oil prices fell yesterday as tensions appeared to ease with Iran, but things could change today.

And yet our planet continues to turn. A lawn crew is mowing the grass outside my study window as I type this essay, as they do every Tuesday morning. We'll have staff meeting at 9:15 today, as we do every week. (Why, I'm not always sure.) The Rangers are near the bottom of the league in pitching again, and Cowboys fans are arguing about the quarterback. The basics of human nature don't change.

That's why God's word is still relevant to our lives, and his love is still essential to our souls. That's why submitting this day to his Lordship is the best way to begin it, so our house will stand no matter what storms find us today (Matthew 7:24-25). Whatever the day's news brings, here's a fact which won't change: Jesus is still Lord. All of God there is, is in this moment. Have you yielded your day to him yet?