I have a friend that tells me often, “Just for Today.” He will remind me that yesterday is the past, and tomorrow isn’t promised. So, basically, I should focus on the present, and walk as closely to God as I can…just for today.  I believe this is good advice. It helps to have a focus on the short-term, dealing with the reality that lies before you. But I also believe you have to couple that short-term focus with a long-term perspective. Too many times I hear clichés such as “Life is Short” or “Life Comes at You Fast” or “Seize the Day.” This isn’t what my friend means when he proclaims “Just for Today,” but it is easy to confuse it with these slogans if I don’t have my mind right.

As Christians, we all know that our life on this earth is only the opening leg of our journey. That a Heavenly eternity awaits us. But many times, I find myself falling into the trap of “seizing the day” and panicking because I feel like life is passing me by, that I’m not accomplishing everything I want to accomplish. I get trapped within the artifical boundaries of time and space driven by the world’s view of existence. Sure, if this life was all I had to plan for, I’d definitely be behind schedule right now. In a world where long-term planning means 401(k) investments, it is easy to lose the forest for the trees.

We aren’t promised tomorrow. We are guaranteed eternity. I’m not sure why it is so easy for me to internalize the former at the expense of the latter.

I should act more like both of those things are true, combining a short-term focus with a long-term perspective. My actions and attitude would dramatically change for the better if I could make that happen consistently. It would be so powerful if I could combine “Just for Today” with “Just for Eternity.”

A quick aside about how God is speaking to me. I spent some of the weekend thinking about this post and journaling about the concept. Today, I was standing next to a co-worker’s cubicle where I saw a quote she had just written on her whiteboard. It said something to the effect of:

“I was living each day as if it were my last, but people got tired of hearing me scream, ‘I’m going to die!'”

I’ve had this experience over and over again this past year. Where God will lay before me an insight and then follow it up with subtle reinforcement as if to say, “Yes, I really meant for you to be thinking about that.” I never grow tired of that experience.

In closing, I have a few questions for you. How would you act differently if you truly approached death as only the first chapter in your journey? What if you really approached your time on earth as a phase of preparation for eternity? Would your priorities shift? Would you do things differently? How would your relationship with God change? What if you could approach your life in this manner, Just for Today?