The Scripture
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15, KJV)
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24, KJV)
"I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19, KJV)
The Heart of It
We have heard the trumpet, and we have remembered whose we are. Now comes the moment of decision. To be called and to be beloved is to be brought to a threshold, and every threshold asks something of us. This song is the holy nudge that says the road has waited long enough. The morning is breaking gold and wide, and no one can walk your path in your place. The answer is yours to give.
The heart of this song is the word today. Joshua does not tell the people to decide someday, when conditions improve. He says "choose you this day." Decision is not a distant event on the horizon; it is the ground beneath our feet in this very hour. And the choice is not vague. It is a choice of masters, of whom we will serve, with Joshua planting his own stake in the ground for all to see: "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Jesus takes that decision and gives it shape. To choose Him is to "come after" Him, to deny ourselves, and to take up the cross. This is where the awakening becomes a walk. The call that woke us and the love that named us now ask for our feet, our direction, our yes. Following is not a single dramatic leap but a road taken one honest step at a time. Paul says it plainly for every generation: "now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).
And here is the mercy in the urgency. The reason now matters is not that God is impatient with us, but that this life is the appointed season for turning toward Him, and it is precious. Moses set the same choice before Israel long before, saying, "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life." The song holds this tension beautifully. It knows courage is often quiet, that finishing begins with a small answer when the Lord draws nigh. But it will not let us believe that tomorrow is guaranteed. The time is now.
More Witnesses: Latter-day Scripture
Later scripture presses the same holy urgency. In the Book of Mormon, Amulek teaches that this life is the day for us to prepare to meet God, and he pleads with us not to procrastinate the day of our repentance, for today is the time to labor and not to delay (Alma 34:32). Every day we put off the choice is a day of grace spent somewhere other than home.
The Doctrine and Covenants sounds the same call to act while there is still light. There the Lord urges His people to labor while it is called today, for the work before them is urgent and the season is short (Doctrine and Covenants 64:25). Prophet and apostle alike refuse to let us postpone our lives. The one voice sounds again. The day of decision is this day.
How the Song Carries It
The song carries its theme in the language of a road and a morning. It opens with the road that "has waited long enough for you," and the honest reminder that "no one can walk it in your place now." The pre-chorus strips away our excuses, "no more waiting on tomorrow, no more standing at the line," and hands us the answer to find. The chorus is a summons to rise: "The time is now, the time is now, lift up your eyes and rise! Leave the weight that held you sleeping, let go and take the climb."
The second verse is tender about what courage really looks like, admitting that "some days it's only, here am I," yet reminding us that "every saint who ever finished first answered when the Lord drew nigh." The bridge lifts Joshua's very words into worship, "choose this day, choose this day," and promises that "Heaven moves the very moment you give Him all your heart." By the final chorus the whole earth is watching, the journey has "just begun," and the repeated cry becomes not a burden but a doorway into the free.
The Lyrics
The road has waited long enough for you,
the morning's breaking gold and wide.
No one can walk it in your place now,
so lift your head and step outside.
No more waiting on tomorrow,
no more standing at the line.
Heaven's calling out your name now,
and the answer's yours to find.
The time is now, the time is now,
lift up your eyes and rise!
Leave the weight that held you sleeping,
let go and take the climb.
Say yes with all that's in you,
and set your feet on stone.
The time is now, the time is now,
you will not walk alone.
(Oh, the time is now.)
It will not always feel like courage,
some days it's only, "here am I."
But every saint who ever finished
first answered when the Lord drew nigh.
No more waiting on tomorrow,
no more standing at the line.
Heaven's calling out your name now,
and the answer's yours to find.
The time is now, the time is now,
lift up your eyes and rise!
Leave the weight that held you sleeping,
let go and take the climb.
Say yes with all that's in you,
and set your feet on stone.
The time is now, the time is now,
you will not walk alone.
Choose this day, choose this day,
lift your foot and start.
Heaven moves the very moment
you give Him all your heart.
(Rise up! Rise up!)
The time is now, the time is now,
the whole earth waits to see!
Say yes with all that's in you,
and step into the free.
The time is now, the time is now,
your journey's just begun.
The time is now, the time is now,
oh, the time is now.
A Blessing
May you find, in this very hour, the courage that is often only a whispered "here am I." Choose this day whom you will serve, and take up your cross, and step onto the road that leads home. Heaven moves the moment you give Him your heart, so wait no longer on tomorrow. You will not walk alone. Go in peace.
Scripture References
- Joshua 24:15
- Matthew 16:24
- 2 Corinthians 6:2
- Deuteronomy 30:19
- Alma 34:32 (Book of Mormon)
- Doctrine and Covenants 64:25