Learn to Value Time


Read James 4:1–17


What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:14).


The last words written in Sir Walter Scott’s diary were, “Tomorrow we shall . . . .” For Scott, there were no more tomorrows. He was living with a forward focus but he was living on borrowed time, and that’s the truth we most often ignore.


Life is precious; each day is a new package to be opened and appreciated. What a travesty to live life with a cavalier attitude, wasting our substance in worthless affairs. At our best we are loving, giving, caring, and sharing. At our worst we are a miserable bundle of hurt feelings, selfish desires, and festering frustrations. Life is too precious to live like that! We send flowers to the dead that we should have sent to the living. We say all the nicest things about people when they’re gone. Should you find yourself saying “Tomorrow I shall,” remember Sir Walter Scott and the misty quality of life.


Challenge for Today: Pick up the phone, write the letter, ask forgiveness, offer full pardon, reach to embrace, state your intention, weep with the wounded, and laugh off the little stuff. Life is too short for trivial pursuits.

(c) by Gospel Publishing House, 1445 N Boonville Ave., Springfield, Missouri, 65802