The blessings of unknown tomorrow – Part 1

Text: James 4:13-17:
“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 … Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (NKJV)

Introduction
Happy New Year to all my readers, and I specially welcome you into 2020, the year of “Increasing Glory.” We shall move from glory to glory. The topic we are considering is: “The Blessings Of Unknown Tomorrow.” The saying is true that no one knows tomorrow, though many of us desire to know tomorrow and would love to do anything to know it. Today, one of the greatest pursuits of men is how to know tomorrow.

Many indulge in astrology, all because they want to know tomorrow. But it all ends in futility. The scripture we have read today has made it clear to us that one area where God has shown us His sovereignty and superiority is in the knowledge of tomorrow. James 4:14, says it clearly: “Ye know not what shall be on the morrow.”

In the year 1994, I came in contact with a powerful astrologer in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, who confessed to me frankly, saying: “They are only trying to deceive people, for no one knows tomorrow.” But why did God keep away from us the knowledge of tomorrow, just like that of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden? (Gen. 2:15-17,9). I believe it is because there are blessings of unknown tomorrow.
What If We Know Tomorrow?

One question that can help us to understand what God did is what would happen or be happening, if you and I know what will happen tomorrow? Do you think life will be easier or more difficult? Will it be a better world if we know tomorrow? What do you think?
 

• Alertness: The next thing that we shall lose, if we know tomorrow is the spirit of vigorous alertness. We shall be living a non-responsive life, totally losing what it takes to hear God and seize opportunities of God’s Will. Alertness, which is the mark of progress and victory, would be very difficult a thousand times, if we are always certain about tomorrow. If a soldier is on a six-month leave and is expected to return to the battlefront only after six months, he would be less, alert unlike a man who is at home and could be called to battle at any time. For such a man, there is no wandering very far from home, for he knows that at any time he must go, perhaps tonight. Such a man is always fit and always ready, and it is the uncertainty that makes him so. So, it is with the uncertainty of death and trial.

• Rev. Dr. Israel Kristilere, Senior Pastor, Shepherdhill Baptist Church, (Sanctuary of Grace & Glory), Baptist Academy Compound, Obanikoro, Lagos. WhatsApp: 2348033052590. Email:revkristilere@yahoo.com.