Stopping The Illusion Of Tomorrow
Tomorrow — It’s the perfect day to push off all of our troubles and responsibilities on, isn’t it? Tomorrow is filled with hopeful and shinny promises, where we can get the dreaded things done. But is it really okay to count on tomorrow, when it comes to our faith? This week we cover how there is an illusion around the idea of being a better person “tomorrow.” So if you find yourself in a situation where you realize that you keep pushing off your Spiritual growth until “tomorrow,” then keep reading to find out how we should be stopping the illusion of tomorrow.
Stopping The Illusion Of Tomorrow:
Bible Verse: Matthew 24:42-43 “Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.”
Have you ever found yourself extremely exhausted after a long day at work or with kids, and then deciding to put off any last minute chores until tomorrow? The idea of tomorrow is a magical “get out of jail” free card for when we are feeling too overwhelmed, too busy, or too exhausted. With most things in life, there will always be consequences for procrastination, like no clean clothes after procrastinating laundry for one to many day in a row. But shouldn’t we also consider how those same consequences will also apply to our faith as well? We often don’t give too much though to our Spiritual Health when we push off our personal Bible study or prayer time until “tomorrow.” But what if the “tomorrow” of actually doing it continually never comes? When we get in the habit of pushing things off until “tomorrow,” then we end up using it as an illusion to mask the real problem of those things not being of better priority to us. We are using the “illusion of tomorrow” to make excuses for our faith not being of higher priority in our lives. When we do that, then we are only putting our Spiritual Health and growth at stake. And that is why it is of upmost importances for stopping the illusion of tomorrow!
In the Bible passage above we learn how time is important. Time is everything in our society today. Everyone runs off very tight and busy schedules, and we thrive off of them. We tend to want to know when and where every single event in our lives will take place. We depend on knowing the time, and planning for it. But what happens if we don’t know when an event it? We as a society tend to stay away from the types of events where you don’t know when it will be especially if it is one that needs preparation beforehand. No one in their right mind would sign up to make a dozen cupcakes for a bake sale, if they weren’t given the date and time. But that is exactly the situation we are in as Christians. We have chosen this calling in life, and we have to prepare and put it into action daily to be prepared for the day of the event — Heaven. This passage tells us that we don’t know when Jesus is coming back to take home those of us that have faithfully been preparing all of this time in our lives. We don’t know when this event will take place, but we know we have to prepare. This passage is showing to us the importance of our relationship with God TODAY! This passage proves to us, that we can’t fall under the illusion of putting our faith off until “tomorrow.” We must work on our faith TODAY. We must get ready TODAY!
Just like how I used the crazy illustration of signing up to make a dozen cupcakes for a bake sale that we don’t know when or where the event is taking place, we are the those same people. We have signed up for the Christian lifestyle, and we don’t know when or where it will take place, but we know we must be preparing with all that we have. God wants us to do our best on our walks homeward to Heaven, and that includes stopping our procrastination habit of saying “tomorrow” when it comes to our relationship with Him. Our faith can’t fall under the illusion of tomorrow, and we must stop TODAY and work on our relationship with God! Today is the day, NOT tomorrow!!!
Ideas for Stopping The Illusion Of Tomorrow:
Each moment matters. Have you ever thought about tracking how you are using your time? How much of it falls into work, sleep, or hobbies? Are we putting too much time into hobbies or self-care? By tracking our time we can start to see what things we either need to cut out or limit.
Our faith must come first! Start by planning your schedules around your Bible study and prayer time. We don’t have any issues when parents of young kind plan their schedules around naps, so let’s do the same for our study and prayer time!
Set Spiritual goals for yourself. If you have a goal for yourself, then you can know when you are too distracted or not trying hard enough. Have you ever set goals for deepening your relationship with God?
Set aside a certain time of day for prayer and Bible study. Make a special place for it. It doesn’t have to be anywhere fancy, it could simply be in your favorite chair in the living room. When your brain gets use to doing something over and over again in the same place, it is easier to keep up with it when you are comfortable doing the study or prayer in a certain place. it won’t feel awkward or weird after awhile.
Ask yourself “if everyone is putting their faith off like I am, then where will the church be at in 10 years?” That is the perfect question to ask yourself with any given topic. Take whatever action you are wondering about, and ask if everyone did it then what would the church look like. If the answer is the church would be further from God, then you know that’s not what you should be doing. It’s very simple!
Reward yourself for consistency! Even if you are just starting small, you need to reward yourself for the efforts that you ARE making! Set the rewards for yourself beforehand when you are also setting your Spiritual goals in your life.
Conclusion:
As we journey through life, we often find ourselves in the trap of procrastination — it’s a deceptive illusion begging for us to say “there is always tomorrow.” But what if our endless “tomorrow’s” never comes? We MUST realize that it’s the present moments that hold our growth, purpose, and connection with God! So my dear friends, let’s stop the illusion of tomorrow! Let’s be active in our faith, and make sure our every step is purpose-filled for the Kingdom! TODAY is the day to live fully for God. Let’s not fall into the trap of procrastination by Stopping The Illusion Of Tomorrow!
About the Author: My name is Katie, and I’m a Church of Christ Preacher’s wife in Kentucky. I am also a proud homeschool mom to two brilliant boys. I love to craft, and make and bind my own notebooks. I also make a weekly podcast show called “Just Bible No Fluff",” where I skip all of fluffy extras and hop right into a short yet impactful exegetical study of the scripture. My mission and vision in life is this: “To empower women Spiritually by enhancing their skills in deep Bible study, equipping them to effectively teach the Gospel to others, and guiding them in cultivating Spiritual growth beyond the Church building.”