Monday, October 31, 2022
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." James 4:13-15
Important Things to Do Today
In thinking about time, the next thing we must deal with is the future. Our yesterdays are behind us. Our tomorrows are not yet here. Indeed, tomorrow never comes. When it gets here, it is today.
It should be said about the future, that it is uncertain. There is no guarantee that we will ever see any point in what we call the future. Our lives could end at any time. There is no guarantee that we will live to be ninety, or eighty, or seventy, or fifty, or even thirty. History is filled with talented and gifted people who met unexpected tragedy from all walks of life. Most of us have personally known several people who died unexpectedly at a very early age. None of us have a guarantee of tomorrow.
Tomorrow is not even ours anyway. God holds our future in His hands. This does not mean that we do not think about the future or plan for the future. We should certainly do both of those things. We should consider the possibilities for the future and we should also be prepared for what the future may hold. But we should think realistically about the future if we are to live effectively in the present.
The future can give us hope. This year is winding down quickly and sadly, the past two years have taught us to fear that the next year will only be worse... again. Life has been unpredictable at best for most of us and many have had unexpected losses due to the pandemic and its aftermath. We have experienced financial loss, loss of loved ones, loss of the general secure feeling of know that tomorrow is a new day - which always held the promise of new and better things ahead. Now - we are not so sure what to think. But there is one future hope we can KNOW for certain that it will come about and it will bring good things, and that is the future hope we have in Jesus Christ. A hope that is secure, and it is not just hope for the future but for now as well.
The future can give us a false hope. It can provide a false sense of security and thereby keep us from living effectively in the present. By assuming that we do have some guarantee of tomorrow we can postpone many of the things we need to be doing today. This false hope that we will be able to accomplish something "tomorrow" provides many people with the excuse they want so they can put off the very thing they need to do today.
I have met so many people who attempt to live in the future. They are going to do great things when they get around to it. When they have time, they are going to become more involved in things that count. When this happens, or that happens, they will then begin. They will do it later, tomorrow, next week, next month, someday. The fact is that time never comes, the situation never is right, tomorrow never arrives.
Tomorrow is not promised. Our future is secure in Jesus for eternal life in heaven, but our earthly future is not secure. We only find security in Him and we can have this security no matter what our circumstances are because that hope is not about our circumstances, or a job, or how much money is in the bank account or how many likes we get on social media. The fact that our earthly security is so unknown and unstable, gives us all the more reason to be about our Father's business. We need to be sharing the hope - the real hope that only salvation brings - with our friends and loved ones who are not saved. Time is of the essence. Ask God to place this urgency in your heart for your lost loved ones and friends. Pray and be ready when the opportunity arises.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34
