Day 141 "Tomorrow on Earth May Never Come"

Mark Hogan (Grace Walker)
Feb 25, 2020
4 min read

It is a simple concept: Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today. It is a sobering thought to realize how fragile and brief life is. One only needs to watch the evening news to observe all of the lives of people who ended abruptly this day and without foreknowl-edge, not knowing that today would mark for them their last day here on Earth. The Bible has much to say about the brevity of life.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

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

Proverbs 27:1

"Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:13-14

Jesus used a moment with his disciples and the people to illustrate the importance of how we should live our lives here on Earth, as brief as they may be. Found in the twelfth chapter of Luke, Jesus responds to a question from the someone in the crowd:

Then he said to them,"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.' And he told them this parable: the ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.' And I’ll say to myself, 'You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.' 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?’" Luke 12:15-20

I don't believe Jesus was trying to say that we should do nothing, sit back, and God will take care of us. There is great value to having a dream or vision, setting goals, creating a plan of action, executing the plan, and then following up with examining the results. Almost all businesses and successful lives have been based on such a formula. But Jesus came to bring to light an even greater reality, God's kingdom which awaits us after this life. Yes, we do need to provide for ourselves and our families. But I think what Jesus is stressing that everything here on Earth is temporary and will come to an end at some point in time for each of us, and mostly it will come unexpectedly like a thief in the night. Therefore, the notion is to be sober minded, maintain ourselves in a state of awareness and vigilance concerning the transitory nature of this life and to give our lives away to things that really matter-those things which will have an impact upon the things which are eternal.

And for some of us who have become despondent or anxious about such temporariness of life, their is great hope and expectation as we rest upon upon the words that Jesus spoke:

Speaking to his disciples, and to us today through them, Jesus said," Do not let your

hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you." John 14:1-2

And the apostle Paul encourages us:

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:1-2

Love is the connecting force through all of this. It draws us into an intimate relationship with God here on Earth, directs our consciousness and our hearts, sheds light upon the steps and actions that we take, protects our inner joy and peace, and then reassures us that this life is only the beginning of eternity for all of us.

God's economy and way of doing things is much greater than anything we can fully imagine. In our world today, where many people are protesting and shouting, "Black Lives Matter," Jesus' death upon the cross shouted an even greater message, not only for all of us here on Earth to hear, but to have it heard throughout the heavenly realm as well: