Take nothing for granted!

When I first began writing in my blog I suppose I took it for granted that I would always be able to find at least a few minutes each day to write down a few of my thoughts. This week has shown me that I can't make that assumption. Even when I had a few minutes, I honestly didn't have much "brain power" to think deeply enough to address what I've been reading in the Scriptures. Long hours, killer physical therapy on my bum knee, and strange sleep patterns have combined to make sitting down at the computer to write a not so attractive activity.

Interestingly, Proverbs 27:1 addresses the very thing I have experienced this week . . . "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth" (NKJV) or as "The Message" translation puts it, "Don't brashly announce what you're going to do tomorrow; you don't know the first thing about tomorrow."

So often we tell someone, or even our self, what we will be doing the next day, the next week or month, even next year and beyond. Truth is, we have no idea what tomorrow will bring. I've seen so many examples of this fact. One of those examples is a very painful reminder that life often takes strange, and sometimes painful, turns. About 15 months ago a young man named Parker came by the house with my son Andy. Parker had roomed with Andy at Auburn (he actually lived in the mobile home we owned there) and had come by to spend the night. This was on Friday night. On Monday night after that Parker was in a horrific car crash in Auburn and was life-flighted to a trauma hospital in Columbus, Georgia. His mom and dad were awaken by a phone call about 3:00 am telling them that Parker was barely clinging to life - they better come quickly. Parker survived the crash, but he suffered TBI (traumatic brain injury) and lies in bed, unable to speak, walk, feed himself, or anything he had taken for granted before. What a terrible tragedy!

I don't think any of us mean to seem arrogant when we speak of things we will do in the future. Rather, we just don't think very much about the frailty of life. Obviously, we don't want to be ghoulish or scared of every shadow. That isn't living! However, we do need to acknowledge the fact that we really shouldn't take things for granted . . . not the people we love, not the physical health we enjoy, not the freedom that is ours, not anything. We should appreciate every blessing life has to offer, and the One Who provides those blessings. Don't wait until tomorrow to do what you ought to do today, and don't wait to tell someone that you love them. You may not get the chance to do it tomorrow!