If TOMORROW never comes!
1/9/11
Someday there will be words that go something like this; “Today we are here to remember the life of insert your name? They were love by many and will be missed”.
There are two things that I dislike about the job of a pastor; the marrying and the burying”. I often joke and say one of them is a death and one of them is a slow death. But doing a funeral is by far the least liked thing that you have to do as a pastor. The words that I began with are usually the words I say in a funeral. Someday more than likely there will be a funeral service for you that you might have planned out or you might not have had anything to do with the plans because whether you like it or not, today could be your last.
I know this is a younger church and probably most part, not many here think much about dying. I have been saying for years now that I need to get a will, so be nice to me and I might include you in it. I keep putting it off but like the title of my sermon and the hit song sung by Garth Brooks, but what “If tomorrow never comes”.
The older I get the younger I see people dying. I am not there yet, but I do catch myself looking at the obituaries in the paper and I am amazed of how many people younger than me are dying. It’s a reminder to me that each day is a gift from God. That breath that you just inhaled is a gift from God. There is not promise of another.
I am not trying to scare you; I simply am stating the facts. I have been in cases where someone knew in advance that there time on earth was limited, and there have been times that unexpectedly someone got up…went about their day as usual…and never lived to see the next day.
I think back to 9/11 that is coming up on the 10 year anniversary; I wonder how many people that lost their life that day, thought when they woke up that today could be their last. I bet none of them did. Maybe those who boarded the planes, that thought may have crossed their minds. Some people have a fear of flying and the reality is that it is much safer than riding in a car, especially one that I am behind the wheel. But thousands of people got on a plane or when to work and that was their last. Tomorrow never came.
James 4:13-14 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
But sense we don’t think about tomorrow never coming, we put off till tomorrow for what we should do today. There are people all the time who lose their jobs because they put off what they know they need to do because of procrastination. There are marriages that get to the point where one of the parties cannot take waiting for the change anymore, and they are done and walk out of the relationship. There are people who die every day without God; who may have intended to get right with God and planned someday to accept Him, but tomorrow never came. Never put off for tomorrow for what you can do today! Let me share with you what I would call the poison of procrastination.
First let’s consider…
WHY we procrastinate
I want everyone to think to themselves of something they know they should have done, but have yet to have started. Now ask yourself the question, why did you put it off?
There are several reasons why people procrastinate. Sometimes it’s just because we can’t make up our mind. We have several options and we just can’t seem to make up our mind, so we don’t. A more common reason why people procrastinate is fear. We are afraid of what might happen. We can’t see the future so we don’t want to take that first step. We are afraid to ask for that raise. We are afraid to get that new job. We are afraid of failure. Maybe you procrastinate because things are not perfect. We want everything just right. The problem is that we live in an imperfect world. If we don’t do anything till it’s perfect then you are not going to get much done. Sometimes we procrastinate just because of pure laziness. We know what we need to do, but are too lazy to start doing it.
Reminds me of the guy who came into work and was talking to a co-worker about how much better he would feel if he would get up and exercise for 30 minutes, run a couple of miles on the treadmill and shower before work. The guy says “That sounds great, how long have you been doing it?” The guy replied, “I’m starting tomorrow!”
Do you know why most people can’t solve their problems? Instead of digging in and getting to the root of the problem, we just try to treat the symptoms. So the first thing that you need to do is find out why you are procrastinating.
If you are here today and you have never entered into a personal relationship with Christ; let me ask you a question; why not? Some say that they have some things that they need to make right before they accept Christ. They want straighten up before they give Him their life. The problem with that is that is an excuse strait from the depths of hell. You can never be good enough. It’s not about what you can do, but what He can do. Jesus takes you just as you are and then with the help of the Holy Spirit, He can change your life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Maybe you think someday I will get saved but right now I have other things to do. I am having too much fun now. Again, the problem with that is you may not have another chance which leads me to my next point…
The COST of procrastination
If we all could see in the future and see the cost of putting off what we need to be doing, then we would quit putting it off. Any time you put off till tomorrow what you need to do or you should do…it comes with a cost. When you procrastinate you put off the job that you could get done today. And when you don’t do something today, you will never know if you will have the opportunity to do it tomorrow.
Ephesians 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Redeeming the time means taking advantage of opportunities for service. When you put off something to do tomorrow you lose today! Question…if you are and have never entered into a personal relationship with Christ…when is the best time for you to do that? Now, not tomorrow! Not when the invitations is given, NOW. I love it when people come forward without an invite.
I have heard preachers say to professed Christians, “You better get right with God, you might die”. I think it should be the opposite, “You better get right with God because you might live”.
How many times have you heard someone say that by the time they went to a doctor, it was too late? Procrastination comes with a cost.
It not only comes with a cost for those who are not saved, it also comes with a cost to those of us who are Christians. James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
If you are here this morning and you are a Christian then you know what you should be doing. If by some way you knew that today would be the last day on this earth, how many of you would be worrying about where you are going to eat at after church? How many of you would want to take a nap when you get home? How many of you would change your plans if you knew that today was the last day of your life?
What would you do if there was no tomorrow?
In the song with that title he tells about making sure the girl that he loves knows that he loves her. I think that is what I would do. I would try to tell all the people that I care about how I feel about them. I would want to have a man to man talk with my boys and tell them as much as I can about life and how to handle it. I would want those I care about who don’t know Jesus to know how much that He loves them. I would want to make sure my relationship with Christ is right. I would spend a lot of my time in prayer asking for forgiveness. My plans for today would defiantly be different.
But unless we get a news flash that nuclear missiles have been launched and we have so many hours before they hit, we will not have that kind of advance notice.
Because of that, let me give you my last point.
Keep God in ALL you PLANS!
Let me read our text again. James 4:13-14 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Now understand this, God is not saying that there is anything wrong with making a profit. God is not against property. What God is against is not including Him in your plans. We read that in the verse that follows. James 4:15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."
If the Lord wills; if it is in God’s plan. The main thing you can do to be ready if tomorrow never comes is to make sure that God is in your plans. We read the plan for being ready for tomorrow in Matthew 6:33-34 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
To summarize all this up; In order for you to be ready for no tomorrow, then don’t procrastinate, do what you need to do NOW! If you have never entered into a personal relationship with Christ, then don’t wait. Don’t let Satan put those excuses in your head as to why you should wait. The only reason to wait is that you want to die and go to hell because that is the alterative you face is you wait.
If you are a Christian, have you the right relationship with Christ. Before you answer that, you need to understand in order to have the right relationship with Him; you have to have done your part to have the right relationship with others. Is there anyone you are hold a grudge against? Anyone you have not forgiven?
Is there anyone that you have not shared Christ with? It’s not your responsibility to reach them but it is your responsibility to lead them. How many people would you try to contact to share Christ with if you knew that today was going to be their last day?
