MATTHEW 6:34 – Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

THEME OF THE DAY. DON’T MISS TODAY. Have we ever been guilty of fretting and worrying about the cares and anxieties of a not yet realized tomorrow that basically rob us of today’s energy, joy, and purpose? Let me lead the way of confession. I have. Too many times. I experience way too much wasted mental energy and self-induced anxiety in the only day I must live – today – by trying to live in a tomorrow I do not have.

So, how do we overcome the spiritually draining futility of living tomorrow and missing today? In today’s scripture, Jesus gives us three things we must do if we are going to get off this “spiritual hamster wheel” of exhausting a lot of energy but getting nowhere.

First, embrace that being anxious about tomorrow is sin. Yes, sin. Jesus commands “Do not be an anxious about tomorrow.” I know that is a hard truth “in our faces” and a “tough pill to swallow”, but we have to start here. To be anxious about tomorrow is sin. And don’t say, “I just cannot help it. I am a worry-wart by nature.” No, we can help it, and we are not worry-warts by nature, but sinners by nature. If we hope to overcome anxiety about tomorrow, we begin with confession, repentance, and renewed reliance upon God’s grace to empower us to obey His command “do not be anxious.”

Next leave tomorrow in the realm of tomorrow – “for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.” Jesus is basically saying, “Don’t worry about tomorrow’s anxieties, troubles, and care. They will be waiting for you. They will greet you in the morning. They are not coming today.” This takes real mental discipline, but it can be done. When tomorrow’s anxieties, cares, and worries want to come knocking today at our hearts, tell them, “Sorry, I already have a house full of today’s anxieties, cares, and worries. I will see you tomorrow.” Learn, little by little, to push anxieties, worries, and cares of tomorrow out of today is the instruction Jesus is giving us.

Finally, fight spiritual warfare in the only day we have – “sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” The devil, the world, and our flesh are not sitting on the sidelines waiting to do battle against us tomorrow. They are bearing arms and attacking us today. And to forget that by living in tomorrow is to already have raised the white flag of surrender to these fiendish foes who seek our spiritual destruction. Many Christians are slain on the battlefields of today’s spiritual conflicts because they are attempting to live tomorrow and are oblivious to the war raging today, right now.

Friends heed the wise counsel a wise pastor once said, “Only today, Lord, only today. That is all I have to do Your will, fight spiritual battles, and honor my life in service and consecration for You.” Don’t miss today by attempting to live in a not promised tomorrow.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to live without the anxieties over a not promised tomorrow.”

QUOTE: “A sure-fire way to waste today for the Lord is to worry about tomorrow’s anxieties.”