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| Volume 24 Number 11 November 2022 |
Page 15 |
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| Volume 24 Number 11 November 2022 |
Page 15 |
Byron Nichols
You may not realize this, but it is a fact that we all have only three days about which to be concerned in this lifetime. Those who make the most of these three days will be happy, successful and richly rewarded. These days are yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Learning from YESTERDAY
In Genesis 30:27, Laban spoke to his son-in-law Jacob about having “learned by experience” (NKJV). We read in Job 32:7 that “…days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom” (KJV). The Lord desires and expects us to learn from our experiences of yesterday or the past.
By using yesterday as an educational experience, we will succeed in doing what the Lord wants of us, and that is to become more and more like Christ each day (2 Corinthians 4:16). This will only happen, though, if we learn from yesterday. If we fail to learn from our experience – our yesterday – we cannot be given the grace that is necessary for salvation. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2 NKJV).
We must do better; we must grow. Yesterday is to be our teacher. Someone playfully groaned, “Yesterday was such a bad day that even my twin sister forgot my birthday!” The truth is that we can and must learn from even our bad yesterdays. Only the unwise fail to learn from the yesterdays of their lives.
Living TODAY to the Fullest
There is a saying about today that is unfortunately true for many people. It goes like this: “Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.” Today I have today. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow may never be, but I have today. So, the question becomes, “What will I do with it?” Psalm 118:24 offers inspired advice on the question, saying, “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
It is foolish and unprofitable to try to live either in the past or in the future. We can benefit from the past, and we need to plan for the future, but today is what we have. It has been said that “Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is ready cash. Use it wisely.”
There needs to be within each one of us, not a frenzy or turmoil, but a sense of urgency to live today and every day as an offering of gratitude to the Lord for what He did for us by dying for us, and also with the realization that we will one day stand before Him in the Judgment.
We would do well to heed the words of David in Psalm 90:12, where it reads, “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” A wise fellow by the name of Benjamin Franklin asked, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.” Living today to the fullest can help us be ready for tomorrow.
Leaning on God for TOMORROW
There have been a good many folks who have offered their words of wisdom regarding tomorrow, some of it good and some not so good. Mark Twain facetiously advised, “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” Let me share some much better advice in regard to tomorrow. In Proverbs 27:1, the wise man Solomon cautioned, “Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.” Jesus added these words of wisdom when He said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). The Lord teaches us to lean on Him, to trust Him and to put His ways and His kingdom first in our lives (Matthew 6:25-34).
Tomorrow is definitely the most important day we have never had. By leaning on God for tomorrow, we can have peace today, and we can have rest tonight. I came across some advice that I believe is appropriate regarding our days.
Take time to work – it is the price of success.
Take time to think – it is the source of power.
Take time to play – it the secret of youth.
Take time to read – it is the foundation of knowledge.
Take time to laugh – it is the music of the soul.
Take time to be courteous – it is the work of a gentleman.
Take time to pray – it is the Christian’s vital breath.
If we will live today in keeping with knowledge and wisdom acquired from experiences (both good and bad) from yesterday, we can look toward tomorrow with faith and confidence.
Proverbs 13:13
Ernest S. Underwood
There are those today who despise the Bible and all for which it stands. “Get God out of our schools, our public institutions and our lives” is the cry of fools today. Bibles are taken away from school children by teachers and thrown in the garbage can, according to some reports. Those who have such attitudes and actions revel in their successes, and yet, the Bible they hate so much warns them of their own destruction. Proverbs 13:13 reads, “He who despises the word will be destroyed, But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded” (NKJV).
When individuals know what the Scriptures say on any particular subject, then reject that Word, they show their despite for God and His Word. Denominational preachers, pastors and priests are in this category. Those who deliberately and willfully sin, trample the Son of God underfoot, count the blood of the covenant a common thing and insult the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:26-29). Is it any wonder that Jesus said to those who only say, “Lord, Lord,” ‘Depart from me, you who work lawlessness, I never knew you.’ Do you despise the Word, or have you obeyed it from the heart to the saving of your soul?