Solomon wrote: “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).  In a like manner, James wrote: “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:13-14).  Solomon and James make clear points, through inspiration, that tomorrow may never be.  This point is something that most people do not consider.  In fact, many worry and prepare for tomorrow much more than they take care of things in that current day.  When Jesus was teaching about God’s providence in the lives of the faithful, He said: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34).

     Today is the pressing subject.  Today may not even come to an end before we face death or the Second Coming of Christ.  It is this that many seem to forget.  People have the “take it easy” attitude.  Those of the world sometimes have the attitude that they can get their lives straight in their latter years.  Those within the body of Christ are sometimes surprisingly similar.  Many so-called brethren become lazy when it comes to doing the Lord’s work.  Other brethren know that there are areas of their lives wherein they need to make change; but they want to wait until later to do it.  In many areas dealing with the well-being of one’s soul, many have lost the sense of urgency.

    “And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.  And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (Acts 24:24-25).  There are plenty of people in our day who are in a lost state, they hear the Gospel, and like Felix they think there will be a more convenient time in which to obey the Lord.  In reality, when people are looking for the right time they are just looking to make today not that right time.  They have no desire to obey the Lord.  A true desire of obedience does not wait.  For those who use that excuse, the “right time” will not come.

      We need to have the ‘today attitude’ when it comes to the salvation of our souls.  Paul wrote: “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2).  One does not want to become complacent when it comes to salvation.  Without being saved, you are of course lost.  Eternity is a long time.  Eternity is how long those who want to wait to be saved will pay for their decision (Matthew 25:46 and Acts 17:30-31).  In fact, we need to prepare for death everyday.  For once we die, there is no turning back.

     We have already seen that tomorrow is not promised.  Death is the point of finality when it comes to our opportunity to make things right.  From torment, the Rich Man requested this of Abraham: “Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment” (Luke 16:27-28).  Hear the Rich Man as he sends the message DON’T COME HERE!  Once you die, you then await the Judgment (Hebrews 9:27).  There is no crossing from torment to paradise (Luke 16:26).  God is longsuffering and He has given us time to repent (II Peter 3:9).  That time is not eternity.  We have so long as we live this life to make things right.  After that, our Judgment is sealed.  Knowing this, Christians should first get their lives right then, they should be out helping others to do the same.

     As Christians we do not want to hear the Lord say “depart” when we appear before Him to be judged.  We cannot become complacent by thinking that time is on our side to make these changes.  We have essentially one of two choices.  We can either repent or we can choose to perish (Luke 13:3; 5).  When we sin against the Lord we are in the bond of iniquity leaving us in a spot wherein we need to repent and pray to God for forgiveness (Acts 8:22-23).  As Christians we have the privilege of prayer (I Peter 3:12).  We have the blessing of Jesus Christ being an advocate for us with the Father (I John 2:1).  We have the promise of God that He will forget and forgive us of those sins we confess and repent of (Acts 26:20 and I John 1:9).  Why allow sin to reign in our lives when we have so great a Savior who was willing to die that we might find life eternal (John 3:17)?

     One cannot properly teach the Gospel while they are themselves lost.  Such a person would be appropriately looked at as a hypocrite (Matthew 7:1-5).  Such a lesson was given by Jesus when the scribes and Pharisees condemned a woman who was guilty of adultery (John 8:1-9).  If things are not right in our lives, as Christians, we need to clean ourselves up so that we can be effective workers in our Lord’s vineyard.  Paul said: “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (Philippians 2:15-16).  We are to be lights in this world.  We are to be without rebuke.  We most certainly live in a crooked and perverse nation.  These things are true and good for us to put into application.

     We have such a privilege in Christ Jesus to be vessels that carry the Gospel to the lost.  Why would we neglect the saving message which we preach?  Paul told Timothy: “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (I Timothy 4:16).  We need to practice what we preach.  We need to adjust our lives to that which we expect others to live theirs.  Godliness is truly profitable unto all things (I Timothy 4:8).  We have much to gain by living our lives in accordance to the will of God.  We also have much we can teach in word and deed to those who are lost if we make our lives right.  We then can get the message of the Gospel out to the lost.

     Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).  In that context, we are reading of the work of Christ to bring the Jews back to God.  Later, Jesus gave the great commission to preach the Gospel to all (Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:15-16).  You will notice that when Jesus came to save, He went and took the message of salvation to them.  Likewise, when He left this earth Jesus expected His disciples to take the message of the Gospel to the whole world.  This requires action!  Helping the lost to be saved requires work on our parts.  We have to teach and preach the Gospel to them, or else how do we expect them to know what they must do to be saved (Romans 10:14-17)?

     As Christians, we have lost the urgency in getting the message of the Gospel to the lost.  We already know that most of mankind will be eternally lost (Luke 13:23-24).  What are we waiting to occur before we start caring to help those few who might be seeking the Lord?  We need to realize that our souls are at stake if we fail to warn the wicked from their ways (Ezekiel 3:18; 33:8, and Acts 20:26-27).  We need to be urgent for not only the souls of those who are lost, but our own as well.

     Jesus promised that His return would be a surprise.  He said that His coming would be likened unto that as a thief in the night (Matthew 24:43-44 and I Thessalonians 5:2).  Only God the Father is aware of what hour our Lord will return (Matthew 24:36).  At that time the earth will be destroyed and Judgment will begin (Matthew 24:35; 25:31-46, and II Peter 3:8-12).  Whether it is the coming of Christ or death, your life can end at any time.  Begin now to feel the urgency.  Know that your soul depends on the decisions that you make today.