Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  James 4:14  NIV

“A mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes”, that sums up our life.  I think back to when my stepson was in high school.  It seems like that was yesterday.  My nieces and nephews are growing up so quickly it seems unreal.

We all have times in our lives that if we could go back we would certainly do differently.  Some of us more than others.  The problem with that is that we can’t go back in time.  We can’t have do overs when we make bad decisions.”  Sometimes we can correct the mistakes, but there are no do overs.

The workaholic that misses their children’s sporting events and school plays will never be able to go back and do that over.  The parent that is the substance abuser may miss many important times in their child’s life and they will not be able to do that over.

The person that says they will give their life to Christ tomorrow isn’t guaranteed tomorrow.  So my question for you today is what gets first place when you are doling out time?  There have been plenty of times in my life where I wished that there were 30 hours in a day.  It just seemed like I couldn’t get it all done in a day’s time.  I look so forward to spending eternity in heaven.  I mean on earth we spend 8 plus hours at our jobs, we spend a couple hours at church on Sunday morning, an hour grocery shopping at least once a week, and on and on.  Our schedules are packed with things we have to do, but when we get to heaven, we will have eternity to praise Jesus.  How awesome is that?  But for now, we live with this limited amount of time here on planet earth.  So again I ask, what  gets top billing for your time? Now I want you to really think about this.  I am not asking what you spend the most time on, I am asking what gets top priority.

I hope that God has top billing when you dole out your time for the day.  The wonderful thing about a relationship with God is that we don’t have to spend 8-12 hours a day in prayer and Bible reading, but we have to give him our first and our best.  I have found that when I do this that God takes care of the rest of my day.  Even when problems arise that may anger me or cause me stress, I know that God’s got it and He will take care of it.  I know that if I handle it in a way that is pleasing to him that he will handle those that plot evil against me and try to cause strife for me.

None of us know if we will be here to see tomorrow.  We should live each day as if it is our last.  We should seek God first and foremost and trust Him to  handle the rest.  On days when I have a  lot going on, I pray for God to guard my time. I ask him to help my day go smoothly so I can make it from one task or appointment to the next without complications. It works!  Trust your time to God.  Seek him first.

My six year old niece has just learned the art of texting and she texts me several times a day.  A couple of days ago her mother realized how often she had been texting and apologized that she was texting so much and said she would talk to her about that.  I asked her to please let her text me as often as she wanted.  I love getting her texts because I know that all too soon, she will be a teenager with a very busy social calendar and I will be struggling to get an hour or two on her busy schedule.

Time is so precious my friends, I beg of you not to waste it.  With the advancement of technology we can have time with one person and through texting or social media be conversing with many, many others.  But my question to you is if you are spending time with loved ones or friends, how would you spend it if you knew you would never see them again.  They are not guaranteed tomorrow either.  Would you want to look into that person’s coffin and regret that the last few times you were with them that you were so busy texting or updating social media that you ignored that person?

Most importantly if you have loved ones that have not surrendered to Christ, please take time to show them God’s love and to encourage them to turn to God before it is too late.

Our life is like a “mist that appears for a short time and is gone”.  Seek God first, don’t neglect your family.  We have to work, but don’t let it consume you. Trust God to manage your time. And most importantly live each day as though it were your last.  When you spend precious time with family and friends pay attention to them like it may be the last time you ever see them, because you never know, it just might be.

Have a great day!