Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Tomorrow and the future are uncertain, for no one knows what a day, or even a year, may bring forth. That uncertainty can come as sudden sorrow, as when children fall seriously ill with diphtheria while a mother is away, so that parents are summoned home urgently and must return without food or rest. It can touch personal health, as in not knowing whether one will be unable to write or will recover. It can touch outward prospects, as in not knowing what will happen today and whether many more people will come out to a gathering, so that such hopes rest on an uncertain future.
Plans and expectations generally are uncertain because no one knows what the next day will bring. This shows human beings to be poor, dependent creatures in need of mercy only God can bestow and exposed to sorrows only God can relieve. Against that helplessness it makes precious a Saviour who pities the afflicted and does not willingly grieve them, who speaks peace in pain and lifts up the sorrowing and bowed down and proves by experience to be a mighty helper. In contrast to the helplessness and hopelessness of depending on irreligious friends for comfort and help, it points to the star of hope and to a loving Saviour whose blood cleanses from all sin and to the living Fountain to drink from again and again.
The right response to such uncertainty is to entrust oneself to God and trust in the Lord rather than presuming what will happen. That trust belongs to daily life and to journeys of labor, looking back on past weeks with gratitude for His help while facing an unknown future in dependence on Him. Because the future is uncertain, the call is to use the present opportunity rather than delaying.
Tomorrow and the future are uncertain, for no one knows what a day, or even a year, may bring forth. That uncertainty can come as sudden sorrow, as when children fall seriously ill with diphtheria while a mother is away, so that parents are summoned home urgently and must return without food or rest. It can touch personal health, as in not knowing whether one will be unable to write or will recover. It can touch outward prospects, as in not knowing what will happen today and whether many more people will come out to a gathering, so that such hopes rest on an uncertain future.
Plans and expectations generally are uncertain because no one knows what the next day will bring. This shows human beings to be poor, dependent creatures in need of mercy only God can bestow and exposed to sorrows only God can relieve. Against that helplessness it makes precious a Saviour who pities the afflicted and does not willingly grieve them, who speaks peace in pain and lifts up the sorrowing and bowed down and proves by experience to be a mighty helper. In contrast to the helplessness and hopelessness of depending on irreligious friends for comfort and help, it points to the star of hope and to a loving Saviour whose blood cleanses from all sin and to the living Fountain to drink from again and again.
The right response to such uncertainty is to entrust oneself to God and trust in the Lord rather than presuming what will happen. That trust belongs to daily life and to journeys of labor, looking back on past weeks with gratitude for His help while facing an unknown future in dependence on Him. Because the future is uncertain, the call is to use the present opportunity rather than delaying.