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== All Time ==

Time is like a bubble within a timeless eternity. It is an illusion. Only "now" truly exists. It will always be "now." We look back and remember things, but those moments no longer exist. The past is a memory; the future is either a hope or a fear. There is nothing to know of the future except the promises of God.

We often imagine time as being like a movie strip. In the "olden days," movies were stored on long strips of film with individual frames showing each moment. Perhaps you haven’t seen one of these, but they’re a useful analogy. Imagine this: I weigh about 220 pounds. If there were another version of me in yesterday, I’d weigh 440 pounds in total. And if there were a version of me for every hour of yesterday, I’d weigh 220 pounds multiplied by 24, plus today’s 220 pounds. That’s 5,281 pounds of me! Clearly, that doesn’t make sense.

There is only today. Today is the day of salvation. The Bible reminds us, "Choose you THIS day whom you will serve" ({{bgw|Joshua 24:15}}). Tomorrow doesn’t exist yet. There isn’t a version of me waiting on a film strip for tomorrow. Does God know tomorrow? Of course, but He doesn’t know it as something that already exists. He knows His purposes and plans, and He knows He can accomplish them no matter what choices we make.

God’s ultimate desire is for you to know Him. And you will. You can know Him the easy way—through His Word and Spirit—or the hard way—by resisting Him at every turn. It’s like when your dad tells you to go to bed. You’ll end up in bed either way. You can get there peacefully, giving kisses and saying your prayers, or you can kick and scream the whole way, but eventually, you’ll be in bed.

You might think your dad is your enemy for insisting you go to bed, but he does it because he loves you. The same is true of God. Sometimes, when you can’t do what you want, or when bad things happen, it may feel like God is your enemy. But He is always working for your good. If you love Him, He will make all things work together for your benefit ({{bgw|Romans 8:28}}).