Proverbs 3:28 Do not say to your neighbour, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.
I was talking with my friend David who over the last six months, has beat a few addictions and is still overcoming them day by day. I asked him what was the lie that kept him addicted, and he said, “I would say things like – I won’t smoke tomorrow. I won’t drink any more wine tomorrow.” We agreed it was a perfect way to fool ourselves into not changing our ways because tomorrow never comes. We are always in the moment of today when we must deal with life and the choices we make for it. In effect, David was fooling himself by using tomorrow to delay the known problem he was living with that day. What a deceptive lie tomorrow is! We can make a promise to tomorrow, (if tomorrow was a living thing) about what we must deal with today and feel like we are being honest with ourselves at the same time. What a demonic scam we have fallen into. Prov.14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
It is interesting that when people in the world give guarantees about tomorrow, there is no certainty or assurance, but when God talks about tomorrow, there is a feeling of promise and hope for living. There was a severe famine in Israel, to the point where people participated in cannibalism. The people had eaten the king’s son. Israel was being besieged by the Syrians and they were starving the people of Samaria to death. However, Elisha makes a declaration of hope for tomorrow. 2Kings 7:1 Elisha replied, “Listen to this message from the LORD! This is what the LORD says: By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of choice flour will cost only one piece of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only one piece of silver.” When God gives us a promise of tomorrow, we can be assured of it, but when man tries to guarantee tomorrow it literally has to be taken with a degree of skepticism.
Is this why God says today is the day of salvation? 2Cor. 6:2 For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. God is not fooled by the statement of someone saying, “Tomorrow I will be saved.” God knows we live in the day we are in, and therefore, today is the day we ask Jesus into our hearts to save our lost souls. The apostle Paul was making his case to King Agrippa that Jesus is Lord, but the king put off the invitation Paul was extending even though the king knew the laws of the prophets pointing to the coming of Christ as the Saviour. Acts 26:27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. 28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” Almost, in this case, meant maybe tomorrow. The king had been fooled by tomorrow.
Even paying our bills or what is owed to others should not be put off until tomorrow when we can implement the payment today. Prov. 3:28 Do not say to your neighbour, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you. I know this is a strange concept in this debt-ridden world. The idea of putting the monies aside for the payment due and living within our means has become a lost concept. Had this advice been taken to heart, there would not be so many people owing their today’s lives to tomorrow’s demands. The future looks bleak when you owe all your life to a future that you have no idea will be yours. Borrowing against tomorrow will eventually drain our happiness for today. Prov 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave of the lender.
We have all been fooled by tomorrow at some time. Procrastinators could write a book on putting off to tomorrow what should have been done today. As my friend David said, “I will not drink any more wine tomorrow.” Many others have said the same thing as David said but with different bad habits described in the sentence. I will look into getting help for my addiction tomorrow. I will stop my damaging obsession tomorrow. I will change my destructive ways tomorrow. No saints. I will ask God for His grace and help today! Prov. 22:19 I have instructed you today — even you — so that your confidence may be in the LORD. God’s instructions are always for today so that our tomorrows are God-filled and led by Him.
If we are going to trust in tomorrow then let it be the tomorrow God has planned for us. The future is bright when the light of God’s goodness is leading us. God has divine plans for us, and we would be wise to ask Him how to start walking in them today. Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Thank you, Lord, that you can give us a tomorrow with real love, hope, joy, and peace. Help us all see the folly of trusting a tomorrow without God in it. May our todays be so powerful in the Lord, that we affect tomorrow’s generations toward loving God. Amen!
This is true!!!