Tuesday 17th March - Tomorrow

DAILY BYTE

It really, really matters how we think about tomorrow because it affects so much of who we are today.

The prophet Jeremiah found himself amidst a people who were groaning in terror over what may or may not happen the next day. How did he react to this situation?

Well, Jeremiah bought a field. What on earth does buying a field have to do with anything you may well ask! You see, the field he bought was at that very moment groaning under the weight of the camping Babylonians.

Buying that field was a remarkable act of faith, of trust, of hope!

Alone in a city full of people who believed they now had no tomorrows worth looking forward to, Jeremiah was boldly stating – of course we do!

Remember, this was a people who had been blessed, cared for and guided by God constantly throughout history, and yet Jeremiah alone of all of them, could look past the raw fear of tomorrow’s uncertainty and trust in God’s provision. Jeremiah was prepared to place his hope in the God who had always been there for them in the past, and so would always continue to be.

The point Jeremiah was making in buying that field was that even if our tomorrows look bleak, if we give up hope then we are losing out on today as well. Because the way we think about tomorrow, really, really affects the way we live today.

If we struggle to believe in the abundance of God’s love, and if we live with fear and worry about what may or may not happen, it will radically affect the quality of our life today.

In the Christian novel ‘The Shack,’ the author depicts an imaginary conversation between his central character – Mack – and Jesus. They are discussing Mack’s fears regarding the future, and Jesus says to him:

“Mack, do you realise that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever, pictures me there with you?”

Is that you? Do you spend a lot of time fretting and worrying about the future, and imagining some pretty gloomy and depressing scenarios? But is it also true to say that in your imaginations of the future, God is almost always absent?

Building up to the cross, Jesus constantly promised his disciples, that although the cross would happen, that he would never leave or forsake them. Never! Jesus encouraged his disciples to build their visions of the future around a promise that God would constantly be with them.

In the light of this, perhaps it is time you began to change how you imagine the future. Just as God has always been with you, and is with you right now, so God has promised to be with you always, even to the ‘very end of the age.’ Perhaps, it is time you built your future around that!

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord God, you have loved and cared for us from the moment we were first conceived. Help us, even in the midst of great difficulties, to trust in your loving care. Help us to actively and courageously hope in you always. Amen.

FOCUS VERSE

Matthew 28. 16-20

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.