James 4:14

"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow; for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

A bit of practical advice that has helped me through the years is this: "If you have a project that needs your attention, 'Do it Now!' Don't procrastinate and put it off until tomorrow. Whether it is a business task, school work or a spiritual decision to make, do it now.

This is especially true in the matter of one's spiritual life. If you ever plan to yield your life to Christ; if you ever plan to give Christ first place in your life...do it now. Every delay makes the choice more diffficult.

The gift of time is one of God's choice blessings. How sad that we kill time, waste time, and treat it as though it were our worst enemy. The poet has well said: "Just one life, twill soon be past. Only what is done for Christ will last."

The most important day of your life is today. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery; it is uncertain. Today is a gift...that's why we call it the present. God has given you today; a day filled with opportunity. Don't throw it away. If you ever plan to yield your life to Christ, then why not today.

Our God is a present tense God, concerned about today. He told Moses that His Name is "I am". I am is a present active verb. He is the God of the here and now, vitally concerned about what you do with your today.

One of Satan's strategic weapons is the word "TOMORROW". He doesn't care what you promise God, so long as you affix the word "tomorrow". He knows your tomorrow will probably never arrive. So long as you wait for the perfect moment to make your decision to follow Christ, he knows that moment will never come. Delay no longer. Come to Christ now.

James shares three reasons why we should do what God reveals for us to do and DO IT NOW!

I. UNCERTAINTY OF THE FUTURE

"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow"

Planning is vital in our everyday life. You will accomplish more if you plan your work and then work your plan. As important as planning is, one cannot plan even one perfect day. Try it tomorrow. Plan out your day, hour by hour, then begin the process of carrying out your plans. Invariably, someone calls or drops by and has another plan for your day. It may be a family member or a work associate who begins to erode away your time schedule. We cannot plan one single day. How can we plan our future, when it is so uncertain? So many plan one day to follow Christ and serve Him. One day they will get around to it, but for many the time is never just right. For this reason, James says: "To him that knows to do good and does it not; to him it is sin." He is saying "You know what God wants you to do - Do It Now.

1. The Future Is Uncertain Physically.

We like to think we shall always have good health, and will always be able to serve the Lord. We just aren't certain about the future.

Early in our ministry we moved to Rockford, Illinois, to pastor a church. Our second year a terrible tornado swept through our part of the city, on through Belvedere and to West Chicago. It was the worst storm in their history. Scores of people were killed; hundreds injured. I visited the hospital a few days later and met a survivor of the tornado. He told me a sad story of what had happened to him and his dear wife.

He said: "Do you remember the day of the big twister? That day started out to be the best day of my life...then it became the most cruel, devastating day I'd ever lived through. The day before, I retired from the Chrysler factory in Belvedere. They gave me a gold watch and my severence pay. It was a good day. The next day, the wife and I went to a steak house to celebrate. We laughed about what a good time we would have. We planned to leave the next morning. We would visit the kids and grandkids, explore the national parks. What a good life awaited us."

He was silent for a moment, then he said: "We left the steakhouse, were driving home to hitch up the trailer, get a good night's rest, then hit the road. Then I looked up and saw the funnel cloud heading our way. I turned into a driveway, tried to spin out of the way, and the car vibrated, then turned end over end. When I woke up, I was in this room; the doctor was standing beside my bed. I said: 'Doc...where's my wife. Where's Mabel?' The doctor told me my wife was killed in the wreck. Then he showed me the x-rays. He said my legs were shattered and he couldn't save them; would have to amputate both legs at the hips." He looked up at me, his eyes filled with tears, and said: "I never thought it would happen to me.."

Since that day, I have heard others say those same words: "I never thought it would happen to me." So many have lost their health early in life; or lost their marriage partner, and said: "I never thought it would happen to me."

Because we are uncertain about the future physically, Do It Now. Come to Jesus Now!

2. The Future Is Uncertain Spiritually.

Anyone can resist the Spirit of God. You sense the Lord is directing you to make a definite commitment to Him, but you delay; waiting until a better time. After while, you no longer hear the voice of God or even have a desire to yield to Him.

Remember when your heart was tender, when the words of an old gospel hymn would bring tears to your eyes. In your heart, you resolved that one day you would yield to the loving Savior, but not now. As the time passed, you found your interest waning; your desire diminished. God hadn't changed. You had. A hardening took place. The Bible warns: "Harden not your hearts..."

While there is the least bit of desire remaining; if you ever plan to follow the Lord's leading; Do It Now.

II. Do It Now Because Life is Short.

"what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time.."

Job 14:1 . As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again. Psalms 39:5 You have made my days no longer than a hand's measure; and my years are nothing in your eyes; truly, every man is but a breath.

Life, at best, is short. At times it seems very long. To a little child, life seems like a forever thing. A school child thinks the end of the class will never come. To an older person, life is seen as it really is...very brief.

Ask a child: "How old is a seventy year old men?" The child will reply: "He's OLD! He's over the hill." Ask an eighty year old man how old a seventy year old man is, and he'll reply: "He's not old at all!"

We pastored in a tropical area of our state where many retired people migrated because of the mild winters. There were two elderly gentlemen in our church, aged ninety and ninety-two. They were widowers, and were best friends. They always sat together in church services; that is until one day I looked out in the congregation and saw the two of them with a woman sitting between them. Mrs. Andrews, a seventy-two year old widow lady had moved into the retirement complex, and these two men were dating her. This was the first time I had seen two men double dating one woman at the same time. They were really enjoying themselves. After the service, I spoke to one of the men and said: "I need to spend a little time counseling with you!" He replied: "What's wrong preacher?" I said: "I noticed you've been dating Mrs. Andrews." He replied: "Yep!" Then I counseled him: "Why are you dating such an old woman? Did you know she's seventy-two years old?" He grinned and retorted: "Preacher, when you're ninety-two years old; a seventy-two year old woman is just a young chick!"

If I asked him how long life is, he would have stated: "Life is very short!" It is at that.

Someone has compared a lifetime to the four seasons of the year:

First comes springtime. That is childhood and youth. A beautiful time of life. A time of learning and preparing for life. If there was ever a time when a person needs to come to Christ, it is in the springtime of childhood and youth, when you can give your whole life to the Lord and be strengthened in all of life's adventure.

Second comes summertime. You are grown and married and have children of your own. You work hard to provide for your family; you attend the school functions and do all you can to be a good husband/wife and parent. The problem is, one can be so busy doing a lot of good things that they miss out on the best. If there was ever a time when one needs the Lord and His wisdom, it is in the summertime of life.

Third comes autumntime. The children are grown now, and you have achieved a level of success. You realize that if you are ever to make it on the job or in your profession, you must do it now. The future looms large before you as you think of paying off the mortgage, of laying up a little nestegg for retirement. If one is not careful, material wealth can become our god. In the autumn, when the children and grandchildren need you and your godly influence, let the Lord control your life in order that you might be all God intends for you to be.

Last comes wintertime. Health is not what it was before. You are not as strong as once you were. You look back on your life and say: "What's happened to my life? I planned to live for God and yield to His control, but now life has slipped by."

Because life is short - just long enough to be what God wants you to be and do what he leads you to do...Do it Now. Surrender to His control!

III. The End of Life Is Certain.

"That appeareth... and then vanisheth away"

One of the most difficult facts for the human mind to comprehend is: "One day my life will end and this world will get along fine without me in it." The mind has difficulty in grasping such a truth because the only world we know anything about is a world with us living in it.

We have an appointment with death, but we have no idea when this event will happen.

Medical scientists have made great strides in prolonging life, yet still people die.

Years ago a mother became very ill. They called the doctor. After he examined her, he called her husband aside and said: "I'm sorry. I've done all that medical science can do. I am afraid that before long, she'll be gone." The husband asked: "How long, doc? How long will I have my dear wife?" The doctor looked out the window, saw the trees in the orchard and said: "I think that when the leaves haven fallen, your wife will be gone."

The doctor left.

No one noticed the little ten year old daughter standing just inside the doorway. She heard all that was said. She ran outside crying. After awhile, her daddy searched for her and couldn't find her until he looked outside and saw her standing in the peach orchard. She had a ball of twine in one hand and scissors in the other. There were pieces of string tied to the limbs of the trees and she was crying.

Her daddy walked up to her and embraced her, asking: "Darling, why are you crying?" She answered: "Daddy, I heard what the doctor said - that Momma is going to die when the leaves have fallen. I love Mommy so much. I have been trying to tie the leaves to the limbs, but there are too many leaves."

Many of us have seen the leaves in our family trees beginning to fall. A father, a mother, a brother and so it goes. The leaves fall. One day it will be me and you.

Death is not the end. The Word states: "and as it is appointed unto man once to die...and then the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) A day of reckoning is coming when all will give an accounting to God.

For the unsaved, there is a Judgment, when every sin, every wrong attitude will be revealed. The books will be opened, and the price will be paid for every act of disobedience.

For the true believer who has yielded to Christ and through repentance and faith in Him and His work at Calvary, the judgment is past. We were judged with Christ. However, we must stand before our Lord and receive rewards for our faithful service or lack of rewards for our failure to yield all to Him.

Today is Judgment day in the heart of every person. We judge the Creator Lord of the Universe by our response to His invitation. We have the privilege of rejecting Him or accepting Him. We can crown Him as Lord of Lords by yielding to His control; or we can crucify Him afresh by rejecting His love gift.

May I challenge you to DO IT NOW! Receive Him. Follow Him. Yield to His control... and DO IT NOW.

Have you made this most important choice of your life? If not Now is the time. It can be the best moment of your life.

How can one follow Christ? The letter to the Romans presents a simple plan to follow in coming to Christ.

Acknowledge to God and yourself that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

Recognize that you like every other sinner deserve the death penalty. "The wages of sin is death.. (Romans 6:23)

Realize that Christ has paid the price for your eternal salvation. "..but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23b) "But God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)

Call on the Lord for salvation. Ask Him to save you now. "For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)

Confess Him as Lord and Savior. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Share with someone you know that you have become a follower of Jesus Christ. Find a Bible believing church and join them as a true part of the family of God.

Won't you DO IT NOW? He loves you and has already done everything to purchase your eternal salvation. He waits for you to do it now...call on Him in simple childlike faith, repenting of your sins and receiving His forgiveness and redeeming love.

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