Will you have done all that you wanted to do? Would you have said all that you wanted to say? Will you have tried all the things you wanted to try, eat all the things you wanted to eat, see all the places you wanted to see? If you don’t get to see tomorrow, will you be satisfied with the life you’ve lived or will you have some regrets? Then why aren’t you living every day to the fullest? Yea, you may not have any money in your pocket but that doesn’t mean you can’t turn the music on and dance. Yea, you may not have a car to go and hangout with your friends but tell them to bring a dish and have a party at home. So what if you don’t have the money to get a manicure and pedicure, make it a mom and daughter day at home and paint your own nails. Just because you might not have the means it doesn’t mean there is no way. Make the best out of what you have now because you may not see tomorrow for James 4:14 says, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” See, even on your best day you can be sick enough to die so why put off for tomorrow what you could be doing today? You keep saying, I’m getting myself right and then I’ll go to church but if we could fix ourselves, I don’t think we would need God and his saving power. You say, I’m getting my finances together and then I’ll pay my tithes; then why do we need to pray to God for blessings if we could simply bless ourselves? You say, when I get 50 pair of shoes I’ll help others but if God has given us the ability to have an overabundance of this and that, why shouldn’t we help those that are in need? God isn’t worried about the shoes/clothes that you are wearing because he’ll only be concerned with the many folks you help to clothed. God isn’t concerned with the nice car you drive but he’ll want to know how many folks you let ride when they needed a way. God doesn’t care about the square footage in your home but he’ll want to know if you allowed folks to stay when they had nowhere else to go. God is pleased that you’re no longer addicted to drugs, glued to a bottle, sleeping around, stealing and hurting folks but now he wants to know how many you shared your testimony with. It does no good to know God and then not share Him.
Many times we think it’s only the Pastor’s duty to save a sinner when the bible says in James 5:20, “remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” See, it’s just not up to the man or woman of God to help those who are struggling or lost but it’s up to each one of us and if I don’t see tomorrow, I don’t want to stand in front of God, when the judgment comes; being chastised because I was too selfish to share what I’ve learned from studying the bible for myself. Yea, it easier to study for yourself because then you don’t have to try and explain it to someone else but why be selfish? It’s like I’m sitting in bible study and the person next to me is confused about the scripture that is being taught. Now, I could be mean, turn my back and act like I don’t see them and as soon as tomorrow comes, I don’t live to see it and when God ask me why didn’t I help, what answer would be sufficient enough to give? No answer because it wouldn’t have cost me nothing to slide over to help them understand God’s word. This is the same for every aspect of your life. If you see someone struggling with something that you can help with, don’t turn your back because you never know when the time will come when you need the help. I am not saying that you have to go looking for mission work but I’m saying when you see it don’t act like you didn’t. If you see me having a hard time carrying 4 books to class and you’re going to the same class, what would it hurt you to help me? If God presented himself to you now and said that today would be the last day of your life, would you be satisfied with the way you’d leave things? If the answer is no, you have some stuff to do. Stop waiting for folks to change because folks can’t get you to Heaven. Stop waiting for the time to be right because there is never a right time. Stop waiting for your money to be better because it’ll never be. You have the opportunity now to do what you need to do. If you can’t go to church on Sunday, have worship service for yourself. You don’t have to be inside the 4 walls of a building that has been designated as a church to have church because church is in you, that’s simply the place to meet with other folks who share the same belief to fellowship. You don’t have to be standing at the altar to give God your burdens; he’ll take them from you when you give them to Him even if you’re sitting in the middle of your bed. You don’t even have to be a Deacon who has kneeled down to pray because you can pray in the car if you’re in communion with God.
God doesn’t expect you to be perfect and He doesn’t need you to fix what you’ve broken before you come to him because he says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” He knows you haven’t been all that He has designed you to be and He knows that you’ve done some things you’re not proud of but that’s alright because he says in Isaiah 43:18, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” He even knows you haven’t loved, helped and cared for folks like you are supposed to but that’s ok too because He says in Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” God knows you’ve been suffering and that you’ve been in your storm or cast out by so called friends but He is saying just hold on, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland (Isaiah 43:19).” God isn’t allowing you to suffer because you’ve sinned but He is allowing you to suffer because it makes you stronger and he wants you to be appreciative of the blessings you already have. So stop complaining about your little because someone has less. Stop complaining about your feet when someone lost theirs to diabetes. Stop complaining about your hair when someone lost theirs to chemo. Stop complaining about your children when a parent buried their son/daughter on yesterday. Stop complaining about your job when someone was in line at 5:00AM waiting to get unemployment yet they want to work. Stop complaining about your car when someone has always had to ride the bus. Stop complaining about the stomach ache when someone can’t even feel the pain in theirs. You are living RIGHT NOW, so act like it. Stop waiting for the sun to come up tomorrow because although it will, you may not. Take advantage of today because if you don’t live to see tomorrow, there won’t be a thing you can do about it then but you can sure start now.
Lakisha, the Author 