Have you ever noticed that our plans for change are scheduled for tomorrow? Tomorrow I am going to begin my diet. Tomorrow I am going to start running. Tomorrow I will start reading my Bible again. Tomorrow has become a day of convenience, a day where anything can be started. It is so great that we plan to change. It is amazing that we have decided to begin a new task and set an exciting goal, but why tomorrow? For some, tomorrow is a legitimate goal and plan. They really intend to accomplish whatever they have put their minds to. For others, tomorrow is an easy way to procrastinate. Procrastinators unite tomorrow! Still, why tomorrow? Even for those with the best intentions, is there not still time left in this day?
James 4:13-14 says, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” We see clearly in this text that tomorrow is not something which is promised to us. We do not know if our tomorrow will become a reality. As we plan and live out our lives, the only one who knows what tomorrow will be is God.
In James 4:15 we are told to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” All things are under the control of the Almighty God, and He alone knows the things of tomorrow. Since God is the only one who knows tomorrow, how should we go about planning our lives? As humans, we will probably all continue to make plans and set schedules. When we do, we should do so with the will of God in mind. When it comes to the frivolous things of this life, tomorrow might be sufficient, but we must understand God is in control. However, not everything we plan is frivolous. Some of the things we are planning to do will impact our lives forever; they will impact our souls. Do we really want to wait for tomorrow to change our spiritual condition when we do not know if tomorrow will even come? Instead of waiting for tomorrow, let us view our tomorrow as today, knowing who we are and where we stand before the Lord. If we do so, if tomorrow comes, we can be confident in that day and continue our lives living for Him.
