Not all of us will see 2024
A sobering statement, isn’t it? Life teaches us so many lessons, and we just move about without knowing what could happen to us in the next few minutes.
I can assure you that there are people who are alive today, excited about Christmas, and the new year just like you and me, and are looking forward to a new job in January. Some cannot even wait to see their expansion plans for their business go into motion. Well, unfortunately, our human nature has no power over natural laws and certain events. We cannot control time, space, and seasons, but if we lived our lives knowing that tomorrow is not guaranteed, we would live and plan differently, that is for sure.
If we were wiser, we would also not boast about tomorrow, as cautioned in the holy book in Proverbs 27:1 that tells us “not to boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what the day may bring.” James also speaks on the same theme in the New Testament, telling us that we are foolish for speaking confidently about what we will do tomorrow in business or life. Our life is “but a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” My old time favourite story related to this in the Bible is about a certain rich man whose land had yielded an abundant harvest. Seeing this, he began to plan how he was going to store his crops and put into motion plans to renovate and expand his barns and storehouse to accommodate his bumper harvest. He had so much surplus that he told himself that the supplies would last for many years to come, and therefore he would not have to worry about anything. In fact, he told himself that this was the time for him to take a breather, take life easy, eat and drink and be merry. Unfortunately, that was the night that God came knocking at his door to demand his soul. The long and short of the story is that, that very day, he died.
This is in no way suggesting that plans and investments into our future are not important. It is important to plan, but it is even more important to realise that we do not have control over how long we will live.
Our life is temporary. We do not like to think about it too much, but nothing lasts in this life. Many things do not work out the way that we planned. Things break, deteriorate, and die. We can spend decades building something good only to watch it destroyed in an instant. That is the way of this world. As we go for the holidays let us be safe and enjoy ourselves with loved ones. As we plan for the year ahead, let is also be aware that it is not up to us that we will be here tomorrow! Happy Christmas and happy 2024!