"Tomorrow is the devil's day, but today is God's. Satan cares not how spiritual your intentions may be, and how holy your resolutions, if only they are fixed for tomorrow."--J. C. Ryle (Thoughts for Young Men; 9)
Procrastination is an old friend. He and I have hung out on many occaisions and waxed eloquent late into the evening about what the next day would bring. "Tomorrow will be amazing. I will be disciplined in the word and in prayer. I will lead my wife by spiritual example. I will accomplish great things at work. etc." Nonetheless, at the end of those conversations I am so tired the only thing I want to do is go to bed. Inevitably the next day dawns, its activities flurry, and before I know it I am back at home sitting on the couch with my old friend procrastination. He is always faithful to tell me that it isn't my fault that I didn't accomplish those things we talked about the night before. Indeed the day was just "hectic," "abnormally busy," and "beyond my control." In one sense he is right; nothing is ultimately in my control. In another sense, however, I have allowed him to excuse my sinful apathy. I have the command of my Lord to take up my cross and follow him and that each day I am to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Failing to act upon these words of truth is inexcusable, no matter how busy the day may have been.
I must not allow procrastination to ease my conscience and the conviction of the Holy Spirit by tricking me into thinking intentions are equal to acts. Motives are extremely important as the Sermon on the Mount teaches us. However, we must remember James' exhortation to be doers of the word and not hearers only (Jm 1:22-25).
When it is all said and done, our life is like a vapor: it comes and goes very quickly (Jm 4:14; cf. Isa 40:6-8). Thus, we must live each day by the grace and providence of God and must not presume that tomorrow will even come (Jm 4:13-17). However, even if death should not overtake us this day, we must not forget that our Lord and Savior has declared that He is coming soon (Rev 22:7,12,20). If we are to pray along with John "Come, Lord Jesus!" we cannot allow ourselves to think in terms of what will be done tomorrow. As J.C. Ryle so aptly puts it, "today is God's [day]."
I pray that I will neglect the late night chats with procrastination about what great things tomorrow holds and humbly act upon the revealed will of God for my life today. Even if the acts of today are not as grand as the ones I can dream up about tomorrow, ultimately it is only the actions of the moment that count.
Let us seek first the kingdom of God today (now) and let tomorrow's activities take care of themselves. If we fail to do this we will lose both today and tomorrow. For today will be lost thinking about tomorrow and tomorrow, when it becomes today, will be lost thinking about its own tomorrow. Indeed, it is as Ryle suggests, "Satan cares not how spiritual your intentions may be, and how holy your resolutions, if only they are fixed for tomorrow." Let us set our eyes upon our Savior and set ourselves about doing His will...today.
jw
