James 4:14 says, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

We often hear of someone being snatched away suddenly from this life. A person is shot, drowns, falls, or dies in an accident, or perishes from a medical condition.  A recent 2023 study revealed among working people 35 to 44 years old, they are dying 34% more than in the same period of 2022.

Today, we are here, and tomorrow, we are gone.  Oh, how short-sighted and hard hearted is the one who thinks only of the present, and does not provide for the future!  We should order our every deed and thought as though today was the day of our death.  If you are not ready to die today, will tomorrow find you better prepared?

We all want a long life, but what good is a long life, if during it we change so little about ourselves. Alas, a long life often adds to our sins more so than to our virtues.  Many Christians count the years since their conversion, but their lives show little sign of improvement during those years.  But blessed are the ones who keep the hour of their deaths always in mind, and daily prepare themselves to die.

Each morning remember that you may not live until evening; and each evening, do not presume you will awake in the morning.  So be ready at all times. Live each day with Christ in your heart and on your mind.  Live each day putting to death your sinful passions so Christ’s righteous passions can live in you. Be ready in obedience to the commands of the Lord; be fervent in holiness; be persevering and patient in every trial and tribulation that befalls you.  Demonstrate the love of Christ for others in every way with everyone.

Today is the day for transforming ourselves into the image of Christ. Does not the Scripture itself say, “Behold now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation” [2 Cor. 6:2]. Tomorrow is not reserved for any of us. If we refuse to take advantage of our todays, there will come a time when we will long for one day, even one hour, in which to amend our ways; and who knows if God will grant us that day or that hour.

We must now, while it is still called today, apply ourselves so to live as we should in Christ.  Then at the hour of our death, we may be glad and unafraid.  Learn now to die to self and to the world’s allurements, so you may begin to live with Christ and in His desires for you. Learn now to refuse the Satan’s siren call to steal your devotion to Christ, so instead you will enjoy Christ’s glorious call to salvation and eternal life.

Act now dear soul, do all you can NOW, to prepare yourself to live with Christ after death.  While you have time, gather unto yourself the riches of everlasting treasures.  Keep yourself a stranger and a pilgrim upon this earth so the wicked affairs of this world are of no concern. Therefore, live rightly now, and grieve for your sins now, so that in the hour of your death, you will joyfully stand in Christ, with confidence in your salvation. —- Tom