Article August 6, 1927 Issue

Signs of the Times

with contributions from John Ray Ewers, H. Dunnico

[From Home Chat, London, England]

How all-important to-day is! Unfortunately, you and I seem most naturally to think of to-morrow. We are always talking about what we mean to do to-morrow; planning for to-morrow. The poet, Alexander Pope, put this tendency into a famous aphorism: "Man never is but always to be blessed." It is not true of the Christian, of course, because the blessings of the Christian are present blessings, possessed now. I am sure it is a mistake to suppose that the Christian is always thinking about a future heaven. The essence of the Christian life is that, if heaven be not in the heart, it is nowhere. Surely, then, that means no other day but to-day. . . . Even faith and hope, which seem to point to the future, are really the very foundation stones of present and abiding peace. To-morrow is in God's keeping. It is enough! That is why Jesus so often urged his followers not to be anxious about to-morrow, but just to leave it in the hands of the heavenly Father, who cares for us. He emphasized this admonition by calling as witnesses the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, and then he said a wonderful thing: "The very hairs of your head are all numbered." He meant by this that nothing that concerned His children was too small and insignificant for His providence and care. Besides, people who live in their to-morrows never have any to-days; thus they live lives of futility. How much better it is to cast all our care upon God, who cares for us, and get on with present service! Would you not rather be helpful today than hope to be helpful to-morrow? What wonders we hope to do to-morrow! How seldom we do them! "Act,—act in the living Present!"

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Signs of the Times

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access