tomorrow

"Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."

Proverbs 27:1

One of scripture's recurrent and perhaps most important teachings is that we are "but men"--we are here today, gone tomorrow, a vapour in the wind. Nothing is guaranteed us but God's love, and even that must not be taken for granted--if we spend our lives trying to run from it, as a wise man has said, someday we'll succeed.

To me, Proverbs 27:1 is a needed reminder that I can't count on circumstances to be what I expect. All I truly have is this moment: How am I using it? James echoes Solomon's exhortation:

"Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 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. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

James 4:13-15

This morning was a gentle reminder of this truth. I am a naturally lazy person. I knew I had work to do, but none of it felt especially pressing, and so I gave in to my too-great love affair with my pillow and slept the entire morning away. In the mail this afternoon, I received a large package I hadn't been expecting--the materials for a contest I agreed to judge and had totally forgotten about.

Now, catching up with this extra work is not going to break me. The hours I lost this morning are not, in the big picture, a major deficit. But they reminded me that my time isn't mine alone. God has work for me to do, and the time in which to do it is limited. If I am faithful in little, He will entrust me with much.

I am grateful for a God who is good enough to give gentle reminders, and I pray that I'll take them seriously. If the Lord wills, I will use tomorrow better than I have used today.