Tomorrow

 

Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

 

Our Wednesday evening Small Group Bible Study is discussing this week the question: What can we change today to not have regrets tomorrow? There is a line in a Tim McGraw song that say: "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying'." We hear that tomorrow is not guaranteed for anyone, but who lives with that sense of urgency really? They say that the only two things in life that are guaranteed are death and taxes. 

 

Original sin by our original parents (Adam and Eve) brought sin and death into the world. The body dies, losing all vital signs of life and the soul leaves. There are four primary vital signs: body temperature, blood pressure, pulse (heart rate), and breathing rate (respiratory rate), often notated as BT, BP, HR, and RR. When they are gone, so are we. We know that we are being made up of body, soul and spirit, but where does our soul go? 2 Corinthians 5:8 tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. John 3:35-36 declares, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

 

In Revelation 20:11-12 the Apostle John tells us, “And I saw a great white throne and Him [Jesus Christ] who was seated upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them [for this heaven and earth are passing away]. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged according to what they had done as written in the books [that is, everything done while on earth]. We all appear before the Lord, our Maker, to give an account of our life. Hebrews 9:27 proclaims, “as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. Where will you spend eternity?

 

There is a term called “kick the bucket”. Its earliest appearance is in the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785), where it is defined as "to die". Thus, the associated term “bucket list” refers to the things that we want to accomplish before we die and leave this earthly existence. There is an old adage that says, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” Why? James 4:13-15 tells us, Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 

 

Psalm 118:24 proclaims, “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Has this tempting materialistic world and the hedonistic desires of the physical flesh distracted our attention, deferred our direction, detoured our walk with the Lord and deceived our goal? Do we have our priorities straight? Psalm 25:1-5, 21 pronounces, “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.” Live today with tomorrow [eternity] in mind and have no regrets.

 

Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

In Christ, Brian