January 23, 2023

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” 

-Proverbs 27:1

One Memorial Day weekend, a group of us from the Baptist Bikers set out on a ride to Maggie Valley, NC.  We began planning this trip in February and we were all genuinely excited about the trip and the fellowship that would follow.  Of course, making plans three months in advance means that we were trusting to have good weather.  Within two weeks of the trip, everyone began checking the weather forecast and things were looking very promising.  About a week out, the weather forecast started showing a slight chance of rain on the day we would leave Kentucky, but nice weather for the duration of the trip.  On Wednesday, three days before we were going to leave, the weather forecast looked miserable.  Rain every day, with a slightly less chance on the day we would be coming home.  We all talked about rescheduling but we wouldn’t get refunds on our hotel rooms, so we just decided we would take our chances and those that still wanted to go would set out.  The night before departure, the rain in the forecast seemed pretty certain but most of us decided to take off anyway.  Finally, the day we had all been waiting for had arrived and everyone took off from their homes, agreeing to meet in Barbourville, KY.  My group took off in a slight drizzle and rode out of it after about 45 minutes.  When we met up with the rest, everyone else indicated a little rain but they rode out of it as well.  We met in Barbourville, rode to Maggie Valley, then back home on that Monday of Memorial Day and we never saw a drop of rain for the rest of the trip.  It was actually sunny and gorgeous the entire time and we had a very memorable trip.  The weather forecast was wrong and to think some of us had considered not going on this trip because we kept worrying about tomorrow.

“Tomorrow” is a wonderful idea, but that is all that it is, an idea.  Tomorrow is a hope for something more to come our way, but the kicker about that word “tomorrow” is that it is never promised to us.  This is not to say that we should fly by the seat of our pants and just let each new day come and slap us in the face.  No, we should be prudent in planning for the future, it’s even found in the Bible, in the book of Proverbs:

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

-Proverbs 16:9

We can, and should, plan for the future, but ultimately it isn’t up to us if those plans ever come to fruition.  It is all about God’s timing and His will.  You see, we can plan because we want to be good stewards of God’s blessings in each of our lives.  What we don’t want is for our plans to be self-serving and become almost like an idol for ourselves.  James sums this up pretty well:

“ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

-James 4:13-15

We still find that it all comes down to God’s will for our lives.  We must use these opportunities, right now, to glorify Him and to lead others to Him.  I speak of the Great Commission, a lot, and that is because through obedience to that command, we spread the Gospel.  It doesn’t matter if you are only sharing the Gospel with those closest to you, or if you are led by the Holy Spirit to go out and tell anyone and everyone, or maybe you are called into a region of the world that is wholly unfamiliar to you.  Whatever the case may be, if you are obedient, then you will share the Gospel in your words and in your actions.  Should you plan, right now, to share the Gospel with someone tomorrow.  Yes, you absolutely should, but you also don’t want to wait because tomorrow may not come.  So, the best thing to do is share it right now.  Have that Gospel conversation with someone, you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to do so.  Let the Lord guide you, remain faithful to the Word, and share your own testimony of salvation.  We all can connect with someone, in some way, that will open doors we never imagined possible.  

If you aren’t saved, or maybe you have never heard about the path to salvation, I can almost guarantee there is someone in your life who will be more than willing to talk to you and help you find the road that will lead you to salvation, by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Saved or not, don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.  Nothing could be more important than the eternal salvation of each and every person.  Don’t let it become a source of regret because you didn’t seize the moment.  I know exactly how that feels and it is not easy to live with.