Alive Today!

Scripture – James 4:13-17: ¹³Now 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.” ¹⁴Why, 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. ¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

Observation – (Write down what you see in the scripture.) As trite as it sounds, each day really is a gift from God. Nothing in the future is guaranteed. And so I have tried over the past few years to keep that in mind. I literally tell myself that plans I make are based on “if it is the Lord’s will.” So I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. The attitude with which I look ahead deeply affects how I live today. In Christ, I have the promise that He will be with me in anything. He will carry me through, above and beyond anything – good or bad. And always there is the promise of eternal life. In light of that, there will always be a tomorrow.

Application – (Write how you will be different today because of what you have just read.) I will live today. I’ll prepare a few things for tomorrow, but I won’t live today in anticipation of tomorrow. Likewise, I won’t let the past hold me back. I will live with Christ today.

Prayer – (Write out a brief prayer.) Thank you very much, Lord, for this gift today. Help me use it well as your child for my own refreshment as well as for your service.