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What About Tomorrow
What About Tomorrow
Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth (Proverbs 27:1)
The Lord has now allowed you and I to see and be a part of the beginning of a new year. It is a time in which we reflect back on days now past, remembering the good times as well as those that were not so good. We enter the new year of our lives with high hopes and dreams of a year that will be better than the one we just left.
What if we knew for sure that year 2024 was going to be our last year on planet earth? Will we live any differently than we did in year 2023? Will we find time to do those things that we know we should do but could never find time to do them? Will there be any change in our speech, conduct, love, faith or purity? Now, I pray that all of us fully understand that we are under the sentence of death every moment we live. There is no guarantee that any of us will be alive at the end of year 2024 and the truth is that we don’t know if we will live another moment, much less a week, month or year. Our earthly life can end in an instant, we just don’t know what the next moment holds for us. Does this thought scare you or excite you (Phil, 1:21, Gal. 2:20)? I pray that all of us will remember in this hour of reflection that every moment, every minute, every hour of our life is critical. Yesterday is gone forever, it is history. Only today, this present moment is ours, tomorrow belongs only to God.
David ‘s petition to the Lord found in Psalms 39:4-5 is worthy of our serious consideration as we begin our journey into the new year: “Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transit I am. Behold, you have made my days as handbreaths, and my lifetime as nothing in your sight; Surely, every man at his best is a mere breath.” There is a version of this passage that say our days are just inches long and every human being stands as only a vapor (CSV). I like that depiction of life; reminds me of what James tells us in James 4:13-14 about life being just a vapor that disappears so quickly..
As we awake each morning to go about our daily activities, none of us knows what the day will bring forth into our life. Each day we live is just one big adventure that brings its own surprises. Whether we live or die, for whatever number of days we have left on this side of eternity, our heart’s desire should be to spend them pleasing the Lord in all that we say and do (2 Corinthians 5:6-9).
Enjoy your life. be happy rejoicing in the Lord, savor the good things, endure with patience the not so good as you begin this new journey into year 2024 (Heb. 12:1-3). Above all, live each day as if you knew it would be your last day on earth. Resolve to seek first the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33), set your affections on things above (Col. 3:1-3), lay up treasure in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21, be an example (1 Tim. 4:12, Matt. 5:16), make your calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:5-11).
Every moment of every day, be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps lit (Luke 12:35).
Charles Hicks, Gallatin Tennessee
