Why Live Today?

The problem with most people is that they don't know that the principle from Scripture (cf. Deut. 33:25) says that "as your days are, so shall your strength be."  We can get depressed by 3 states of mind:  dwelling on the past, misinterpreting the present, anticipating the future.  The well-known verse from Psalm 118:24  says, "This is the day that the LORD has made, let us be glad, and rejoice in it."  Tomorrow does not belong to you and is not guaranteed by God--He wants you to live each day to the fullest and "boast not [ourselves] of tomorrow" [cf. Prov. 27:1] for "tomorrow does not yet belong to us."

Each day when we arise we should gratefully thank God for a new day and new opportunity to walk with Him, asking Him if He might come that day.  Matthew Henry said that we should live each day as if it were our last.  We should always be prepared for our death, which can come at any time, and live each day as if it could be our last--and I mean to "occupy, purify, watch, and worship, (conduct main business as usual)" not to sell out and stop our affairs like quitting our jobs, and so forth.  The hedonist philosophy to "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" is evil and presumptuous on God's mercy and grace (cf. Isa. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32).

 A real famous local pastor on TV in my youth used to start each sermon with the verse quoted above and it inspired me to be patient and live in the present:  "This is the day that the LORD has made...."  That verse is also the way many a church service is begun by tradition or custom. ( Focus on the now and you will be happier--God will take care of your tomorrows.  God will give the grace you need when the time comes.) Each day is a new beginning and a new chance to walk with our Lord, and we should be thankful as a state of mind for this opportunity.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Marching To The Beat Of A Different Drum

Years ago my coworkers couldn't understand my ways and said I marched to the beat of a different drummer--it was when I had rededicated my life to Christ. I seemed to them like a mystic that listened to the "inner voice" like a Quaker does. I believe this is okay as long as the "User's Guide" is the Scriptures. God has no general M.O. to reveal His will for our lives. It is a walk, step by step, day by day--we only know the next step when we are obedient to the previous one. "Job One" is knowing God's will but and we will not be given an itinerary or master plan, but shown an open door and maybe some closed doors. We "walk by faith and not by sight" and "the righteous shall live by faith" and progress "from faith to faith" growing in glory into the image of Christ himself.

Sometimes we may have to go against the grain and take chances, just like Abraham went out not knowing where he was going, he took a leap of faith. The Christian life is a journey, not a destination, and no one can say they have "arrived." If we do make mistakes, God turns them into blessings according to Rom. 8:28, which says all things will work together for our good.

David was a "man after God's own heart" and the reason he was is that he was willing to do all the will of God. There is no "1-2-3" method of finding God's will because we are all unique individuals in God's eyes. However, He does have a master plan according to Jer. 29:11 which says, "I know the plans I have for you...." Yes, "let the chips fall where they may," because God cannot be thwarted and He has a custom-made plan for each of His children. 

There are many "no-brainers" in the Bible that declare God's will like 1 Thess. 5:18 says, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." We are commanded to know God's will and not be ignorant of it: "Do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is." We have the privilege of being given the will of God: "...[God] has chosen you to know His will" (Acts 22:14). We are not to sing with Doris Day: "Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be." We are not subject to impersonal fate. Nor can we be like the blind kismet of the  Muslims who proudly say in a catastrophe: "It is the will of Allah."  

 As a matter of definition, there is the preceptive will of God laid out in Scripture, and His secret, sovereign, decreed will that is secret and none of our business. "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, and those that He has revealed belong to us and to our children..." (Deut. 29:29). When we discover the will of God, like an epiphany or "Aha!" moment in the Scriptures, we will have peace (cf. Col. 3:15).    We are to claim promises like Psalm 32:8 saying: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you shall go, I will counsel you with my eye upon you." We can get in sync with God's will by knowing the Word: "I desire to do your will O my God, your law is within my heart" (Ps. 40:8). "Send forth your light and your truth, let them lead me" (Ps. 43:3). "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps. 119:105). "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way" (Ps. 37:23).   Soli Deo Gloria!