Tomorrow Isn’t Guaranteed

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”  -Ephesians 5:15-17

 

What a year 2018 has been. New relationships have begun, old ones have come to an end.  Dear Loved ones have been lost and new life has begun.  As it draws to a close are you looking back with amazement as to how the Lord has blessed you, or are you looking back with relief that it is finally over?  You sat 365 days ago planning for all of the things you expected to accomplish in 2018. How did that go for you? Were you able to make progress on your resolutions for the year, and improve upon this one and only life you have been given? As you plan for the coming year, I’m sure you are thinking about family, friends, vacations, work, school and your own personal goals for finances and health. Where is the Lord’s plan fitting into your planning?

Starting on Tuesday, January 1st, you will have 1 year, 365 days, 8760 hours, 525,600 minutes or 31,536,000 seconds in the calendar year of 2019. What if the world ends this year and you knew for a fact that Jesus Christ was returning at 12:12 AM (GMT) on March 12, 2019? Would your plans for the year be different? Would you focus on achieving your bucket list, making millions of dollars, getting that promotion, losing weight or reducing your cholesterol?  You could create a countdown chart on your wall with the exact number of days and live in a constant mode of rushing to accomplish everything before it got to zero.

According to the Psalmist in Psalm 39:4 – “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end & the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life”  But even then, the Lord does not promise you even one more day.  In Luke 12:20, Jesus tells us; “But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” There are no guarantees to have tomorrow, so do not live in such naivety as to think you can control the number of days you have left.

I propose that you take this day to outline your plans for 2019 as if it were the last year before Jesus Christ returns. March 12, 2019 is no more likely than any other day to be the day that Jesus Christ returns, but we should be living as if we knew He were coming back any moment. Prepare a plan for the year focusing on these 5 areas:

1. Write out your testimony. How did you come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord?

2. Commit to a quiet time of praying with the Lord every day regardless of your time schedule and busyness. A few minutes or an hour, commit to giving the Lord time each day

3. Make of list of 25 people you will pray for throughout the year. Pray for each person every day, or rotate through the list as you are led by the Holy Spirit.

4. Take the initiative to have an open discussion about your faith with at least 10 people that you are unsure have a relationship with Christ.

5. Tithe to your local church. If you aren’t attending a church, you should. Fellowship with other believers makes one’s faith stronger

Of all of the promises in the Bible, the promise of Jesus Christ to His disciples to return and bring them to heaven with Him, is the one I am holding true to this year. I do not propose to have any knowledge or prediction of when Jesus will return, but I do have His promise. My goals for 2019 will be centered around expanding His kingdom one person at a time or one hundred if it is within His will. Through DailyThoughts, one on one discussions, social media, and public speaking events; I intend on spreading the word of Jesus Christ as far as the Lord will allow. Won’t you find a way to celebrate the Lord and spread His good news this year as well. Think about it. If every Christian were to take this task seriously and successfully reach out to one unbeliever this year, the multiplicity principal would effectively double the size of God’s Kingdom in one year. It all starts with you taking your part and following the Lord’s lead. I promise, if you are willing to step out and spread His message, He will ensure that you are used in accordance with His plans.

 

Prayer:

Loving Father,

You have promised in Your word to return and bring us home in Your timing. We are not guaranteed another day in this world, therefore work within each of us to prepare our hearts, mind and soul for that day. Help us to be evangelists for You this year. Help us and give us confidence to take every opportunity as it unfolds to share Your gospel with others. In Your name we pray – Amen


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No Promises

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about everything we take for granted in this world.  People, money, furniture, cars, our job, internet, telephones, texting, education, food, water, health, vision, hearing, taste, oxygen, sunlight – just to name a few.  We blow through each day, and seldom stop to think about or focus on these things.  No, we just use them and move along.  Have you ever imagined waking up one day and some of these were unavailable to you?  I’ve heard of people going on a “purge” of electronics for 24 hours.  You arrive at a hotel and upon check in they confiscate your cell phone, your ipad, your laptop, your ipod (if you still have one) and any other devices you happen to be carrying with you.  They give you the key to your room (an old skeleton key) and as you walk in, there is no TV, no radio, no telephone.  One the table are board games, cards, books, magazines, etc. intended to be your entertainment for the next 24 hours.

I must say, as much as I think this is a shocker, I am almost tempted to do it.  We waste so much time online and socializing on the net that could be used doing something constructive.  Who, like me, actually longs for the days before we were all tethered to our devices?  If we are only given 86,400 seconds in a day (1,440 minutes) are we making the best use of the time we have to expand His kingdom.  After all, isn’t that the reason we are all here?  If there is something more important, please let me know, for I know of nothing that even comes close.

Our time is given to us each and every day as a gift from above.  It is not a guarantee or promise that there will be another one tomorrow.  We take it for granted that we are going to go to sleep and wake up in the morning, but show me a scripture that promises that.  The scriptures I find relative to this subject all state that time is limited and valuable, so be busy about the work of the Lord.  James 4:14 states: “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”  In the Old Testament, Colossians 4:5-6 tells us, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person”

We are called to live life to it’s fullest.  That means each and every day, rediscover what it is that the Lord has for you that day.  Your breath is a gift, your sight is a gift, your hearing, your voice, your home, your car, your job, your friends.  Everything you have is a gift from the Lord to be used for His purpose and to glorify His Kingdom.  Stop wasting the resources He has given to you, and start using them for Him.  As Isaiah said in Isaiah 6:8, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”  Be a ready and willing servant, rather than a checkbox Christian.  So many of us went to church, checked the salvation box and then went on living in the world, but the worlds standards and values.  That is not a relationship with Jesus Christ, that is an insurance policy against Hell.

Paul told the church of Ephesus in Ephesians 5:16-17, “Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”  He was teaching them how to imitate Christ, and we should all follow that teaching.  Christ walked this earth as our perfect example of what God wanted from mankind.  Our goal each and every day is to become more like Him, until that day He takes us home.  Be the good and faithful servant that you so desire to be, and give it more than lip service, get up and go out to the world with His message.v