As I head into this New Year I have many questions, thoughts, and plans to consider and ask myself. One of the biggest being as to whether I will retire this year or work a few more? Questions like have I planned well enough to afford to retire, where will we live - our home in New Mexico or our cabin in Colorado? What about our parents and their need for help getting around and our grandkids - who we help take care of on a regular basis?
While life can be confusing and even down right hard at times and we want to know exactly what tomorrows holds. I'm so thankful God hasn't allowed me to see or know all the exact details for my tomorrows, I'm not sure I could handle it. It might cause me to live a life of fear or live a life of over or under confidence. That's why we are told not to worry tomorrow. Matthew 6:25-34 "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—… Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? … Did you know this life we all now live here on this earth is only temporary? Yep! It's true no one will escape it--death will come to everyone here on this earth (at least until the Lord returns) and life as we now know it will end. While none us know when that day will come we can be prepared for it and have confidence where we will spend eternity. I love this saying I heard some time back: "While we (I) may not know what tomorrow holds, we (I) know Who holds our tomorrows". For those of us who call ourselves Christian and have a relationship with the Lord these are words we need to live by every day. With that said it doesn't mean we sit back and do nothing. God gave each one of us a brain to think with and to use in order to be prepared for our tomorrows. Philippians 2:12 .. continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. This does not mean that we can earn our way to heaven through works, but it does mean there are things we need to be doing in order to be prepared to meet the Lord when we take our last breath. So, how sure are you of your future? If you were to die tonight or the Lord came back today, do you know where you will spend eternity?
Like a lot of people now-a-days I didn't understand the impact of what these questions were truly asking. I grew up in a church, attended when it was convenient, put a little money in the offering plate, acknowledged there was a God and felt I was being an ok Christian. I thought I was doing enough to earn my way to heaven. It wasn't until I was 45 years old while attending a spiritual retreat called "Walk to Emmaus" that my life took an amazing turn. For the first time in my life I could say without stutter, stammer or any doubt where I would spend eternity. That weekend I went from knowing there was a God to having a true love relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I went from head knowledge of God to a heart relationship of love, honor and reverence for the only Person Who could truly save me from my sins. For the first time I realized that sitting in pew, putting money in the offering plate, serving on a church committees, and a lot the other religious acts would not save me from my sin, if I didn't have a relationship with Christ.
Last week I shared a thought with you that I believe is why so many people struggle to know if their salvation is real. It is the fact that too many people have replaced the word surrender with the word commitment. When we commit to something we still have some control over what, when, and where something will be happen. To be totally surrendered means you give up all rights and put them in someone's else control, that being Jesus Christ. Oswald Chambers states it like this: "the one who has been born again deliberately gives up his right to himself to Jesus Christ, and identifies himself entirely with God's ministry to others." Commitment without total surrender to the Lord is like my life prior to my Emmaus Walk. I was just going through some of the religious motions, but my relationship with the Lord was based on my terms, my wants and my desires. While I might have been committed to some religious actions and duties I had never truly surrender my life to the Lord. Now don't get me wrong or think I never fall back into my old ways because I still find myself from time to time letting my flesh affect my walk with the Lord. But thank God- His mercy, grace and love is made new every day.
Don't forget this life we live is a journey and we are still a work in progress. And by living a life that is surrendered to the Lord we can be prepared, equipped and ready for whatever tomorrows holds. Philippians 1:6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. The best way I know to be prepared for my tomorrows is by allowing the Lord to have my todays. So let's be prepared for our tomorrows by surrendering each new day to the Lord.