WHAT SHALL WE DO?
“whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”James 4:14
You’ve probably heard it said, “This is the first day of the rest of your life”. That then begs the question, “How shall I spend it?” Interesting! If you knew this was the last day you might call your family and friends together to say,”Good-bye”, or you might make your funeral arrangements ASAP, or you might want to just get alone with the love of your life without any interruptions. But we don’t know how much time we have left. It might be a day or a decade. So what shall we do? Here’s an idea—
Maybe we ought to just simply move on to the next thing on our list. What do you normally do? What does your duty demand of you? What’s next on your list? If our priorities are right the right thing to do is business as usual. Since we cannot see the future there is no reason to throw everything in a state of panic just because we might die. Surely it would be foolish to live every day like that. Just because you might die it doesn’t mean you will, so why should you ignore your duties and make yourself more miserable by imagining the worst.
It is for good reason that God doesn’t allow us to know the future. Instead of worrying about what you would do if this was your last day on earth, it would be better to make sure you spend this day and everyday doing the will of God. What that looks like for you is between you and God. It isn’t exactly the same for everybody. However, as Christians there are some things that ought to be a part of our daily activities–things commonly called “the spiritual disciplines”, such as Bible study, prayer, etc. Make room for them and do whatever else needs to be done. That’s a day well spent. Repeat it everyday and the result is a life well lived.
If you’re a child of God in the will of God, don’t let anyone throw you into a state of panic concerning the fact that you could die today. I love the story about the zealous preacher who was trying to impose guilt on an old farmer by asking, “What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming today?”. Without any hesitation the old gentleman replied–“Plow”. Instead of fretting so much about what might happen maybe you ought to just go ahead and get dressed and go to work today. A hard days work or even a few hours fishing is just as honorable as any thing else if done at the right time and in the right way. Too often the upright are too uptight. Relax! Take a few deep breaths and enjoy the day. Remember what Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:17— God “giveth us richly all things to enjoy”.- HDS, 4-18-12
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
