Live Like There Is a Tomorrow

Last week a friend told me about a book that he is reading called “The Principle of the Path” by Andy Stanley. He explained that Mr. Stanley’s basic premise is that you will end up where the road that you are on is going. For example, a person who lives an unhealthy lifestyle will undoubtedly end up with health problems and a person who saves money today will have it tomorrow. The choices we make today have a direct bearing on our lives tomorrow and in the future. After our discussion, I began to look at my own life through the lens of this-path-your-on principle and realized how true it has been in my own life.

My life has been a long series of todays with no tomorrows in sight. As you would expect, my childhood was filled with the here and now. I never gave a thought to the consequences of my choices. That’s what parents are for. As a preteen struggling with depression, I made the decision to take my own life on my eighteenth birthday. I, in effect, took tomorrow away and lived my today knowing that one day soon – tomorrow wouldn’t come. God had other plans though and gave me someone to live another day for – my son. Still, I lived each day as if tomorrow wouldn’t come and awoke unprepared for a new day. It’s only been recently that I’ve started to look to the future. I am trying to live a healthier lifestyle now so that I can enjoy a decent quality of life twenty years from now and I’m striving to be more responsible in my finances so that I have some security in the years to come.

I next applied this lens to my faith journey and asked myself, “If I could look at the end of the road I’m on, will I like what I see?” Do the choices I’ve already made lead to a dead end down the road or do they lead to my desired destination? I’ve been struggling for some time in my faith journey – Oh not that my belief is wavering. It’s not. Though it has become increasingly difficult to make time to study God’s Word. My prayer time has become more of a checklist than a conversation. The newness of my relationship with the Lord has worn off and I’ve settled into an almost uninvolved coexistence with Jesus. The problem is that I’ve been trying to fit my relationship with God into my plans instead of arranging my plans around my relationship with God. These choices definitely won’t lead me to the intimate spiritually mature relationship I want with my Savior. Fortunately, I can make better choices today. I can turn off the TV and spend time in the Word today. Instead of checking in with Facebook so often, I can update my status with the Lord in prayer - chat with him instead. I need to live today like there will be a tomorrow so that I won’t regret the choices I’ve made today when tomorrow comes.
About the pictures:
Deer Lake Park (August 2009)