A famous poem written by Edgar Guest describes those things which we intend to do “Tomorrow.” We have great intentions, but life gets in the way, and we forget about those things which should take precedence in our lives, and day follows day, month after month, year after year and the spiritual matters continue to take the last position on a list of things to do. The poem expresses “tomorrow” well.
“He was going to be all that a mortal should be
Tomorrow
No one should be kinder or braver than he
Tomorrow
A friend who was troubled and weary he knew,
Who’d be glad of a lift and who needed it too;
On him he would call and see what he could do
Tomorrow
Each morning he stacked up the letters he’d write
Tomorrow
And thought of the folks he would fill with delight
Tomorrow
It was too bad, indeed, he was busy today,
And hadn’t a minute to stop on his way;
More time he would have to give others, he’d say
Tomorrow
The greatest of workers this man would have been
Tomorrow
The world would have known him, had he ever seen
Tomorrow
But the fact is he died and he faded from view,
And all that he left here when living was through
Was a mountain of things he intended to do
Tomorrow ~ Edgar Guest
“Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is you life? It is even as a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to Him it is sin.” James 4:13-17
“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1
“Tomorrow you promise yourself will be different, yet tomorrow is too often a repetition of today.” ~ McCay
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty face from day to day.” ~ Shakespeare
Scripture teaches us “today” is the day for whatever we are intending to do. We do not hold the clock of life. I would imagine we have all fallen victim to saying “tomorrow.” “Tomorrow” I plan on doing this or that, but tomorrow never comes. It’s always tomorrow. A more convenient day. There is an expression I have heard many times. “We’ll see.” Translated, it won’t happen. “Tomorrow” is another of those expressions and translated usually means, “It won’t happen,” for tomorrow turns into “today” and more excuses for putting important matters of a spiritual nature off. The time is never right, but we have good intentions. The problem is, intentions will not get us to heaven.
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalms 118:24
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34
“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” II Corinthians 6:2
Whatever you are intending to do. Do it today. Tomorrow may never come. “Today” and “Now” are Biblical words. He wants us to make the application to our lives “today.”
“A farmer in Tennessee lay desperately ill in a hospital. For weeks he struggled between life and death, much of the time in a coma. One morning he regained consciousness and asked his nurse what time it was. She replied, “It is springtime, and nature is bursting forth with renewed vigor.” “Springtime,” said the patient. “Then I can’t die now, for it is time to plow.”
For all of us, “now” is planting time. The only time to which we are joined is “now.” With this attitude, today can be mine; and so can tomorrow when it becomes today.”
~ Leroy Brownlow
“It’s not intentions that matter. It’s actions. We’re what we do and say, not what we intend to do.” ~ Unknown
Eileen Light