Thought for Today
Genesis 1:5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Lamentations 3:22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Matthew 6:34 "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
James 4:14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
‘Each new morning is a new beginning of our life. Every day is a completed whole.” (I Want to Live These Days with You, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, pg. 5) Some years ago, there was a television series titled “One Day at a Time.” I didn’t watch that show often, but in many ways, I have tried to adopt the implied philosophy of its title. I try to live life one day at a time.
First, I am not advocating anyone, myself included, for the avoidance of advanced planning. There are certain events in life, certain things we all encounter for which advanced planning is a necessity. Currently, for my generation, retirement is one of those things. Conversely, obsessing over attempting to prepare detailed plans for every eventuality imaginable is an exercise in futility.
I spent much of my life in an area where great attention and focus was placed on being born again. The idea stems in large part from Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus, especially, “John 3:3 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (NKJ) It is illustrative to look at some of the other translations of that text. There are a lot of variations, mostly differing on how to translate the Greek adverb ἄνωθεν. My lexicon tells me that it can mean from above, from an earlier period, from the beginning, anew or again.
I thought about that verse as I read Bonhoeffer’s devotional today, especially as I read, “To grasp the old faithfulness of God anew every morning, to be able – in the middle of life – to begin a new life with God daily, that is the gift that God gives with every new morning.”
I believe that is the sense of Jesus’ words about letting today’s troubles be sufficient for today. That idea is also captured in one of my favorite hymns, I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. I especially love the refrain, “Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand; But I know who holds tomorrow, And I know who holds my hand.”
Maybe you find the same sense of assurance in another great hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness. That same sense of assurance echoes in its refrain, “Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed your hand has provided, Great is your faithfulness, God, unto me!”
The only thing certain about the future is its uncertainty. Irrespective of how well we plan, ‘stuff happens.’ Maybe it’s a corollary of Murphy’s Law, but as the great Scot poet Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men. Gang aft a-gley.” We’ve devolved that down to “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.” The truth is, they do. That does not imply that we should not plan, merely that we should be prepared to adapt and adjust our plans as the things for which we plan change as they evolve.
For Christians, that means that we need to always be mindful of our faith and of the gospel good news Jesus brought into the world. Again from I Know Who Holds Tomorrow, “I don’t worry o’er the future, For I know what Jesus said’ And today I’ll walk beside Him, For He knows what is ahead.”
As we do make our plans for the future, as we look forward to 2025, a focus on Jesus’ words is important, "Luke 10:27 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Read about how God provides and protects God’s children in Matthew chapter 6. Remember the song most of us learned as children, Jesus Loves Me. Maybe even remember the Bobby McFerrin song of a few years ago, Don’t Worry Be Happy. Remember who does hold tomorrow.
Stay safe, walk with Jesus, trust God,
Pastor Ray