This is what the LORD says:
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
This weekend I will officiate at my 70th funeral since I entered into pastoral ministry in 2002. Doing all these funerals can get you thinking about death.
What I have been learning through this difficult season is that the only thing worth boasting about is my Lord and God. My health is no surety that I will be here tomorrow. My riches—weather it be money, or friends, or success—can do nothing to keep death from me. There is no amount of wisdom that can extend my life beyond what has already been written in The Book of Life. Jesus is the only wisdom, strength, and wealth that I will always have, and to put my hope in anything else is foolish.
Speaker Jerry Meadows once said, “What are you going to do today? Yesterday is gone. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. All you have is today? What are you going to do with it?” If you knew that tonight you would be called home to heaven, would you live differently? Would you treat people the same? Would you talk to your wife or husband in the same manner? Would you spend your time the way you are spending your time now? You see, the truth is, there are no more yesterdays. Tomorrow may not come. What you have is today.
Do not waste today. Do not miss the opportunity to boast in the knowledge and understanding of the Lord. Do not put off saying to the people in your life,
I love you.
I forgive you.
I was wrong, please forgive me.
Have I ever told you about the love of Jesus Christ?
Tomorrow may never come for you or for the person you need to say those things to. So when you finish reading this blog, pray that God would give you the habit of living only for the Lord and only in today. Then get up and start living like you would want to live, loving like you would want to love, forgiving like you would want to forgive on the last day of your life. You’ll be glad you did, because one day you will be right!
