Tomorrow is Determined By Today
Joshua 3:5
And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.
Joshua told Israel to sanctify themselves, because on the morrow they were to pass over the Jordan River. The word sanctify means to set apart or to make holy. In other words, Joshua was telling them that they needed to make themselves holy so that God could do the great work on the morrow. Had they expected God to only do the work today, they would have been disappointed after sanctifying themselves. Joshua made it very clear that they were to sanctify themselves today so that tomorrow God could show His wonders to them.
We are a generation that enjoys the immediate and expects everything now. We give tithes and expect God to immediately turn our finances around, even though they have been ruined over many years of poor spending. We rededicate our lives to the Lord and expect God to immediately bless and make our lives easy after years of living in sin and disregarding God's will for our lives. One of the great secrets of the Christian life is that what we do today determines our blessings and results tomorrow. Let me share a few thoughts about this important principle.
First, if you never expect immediate gratification, you will never be disappointed in serving God. God often tests us today before determining what He will do with us tomorrow. God wants to see if we are willing to do what is right without blessings before He determines to invest His power and blessings in our lives. If you don't treat God as a vending machine where you put in your spiritual coins for doing right and immediately get your product of blessings, you will find that you can serve God without being disappointed when God doesn't give you what you want immediately.
Second, how you live your life today does determine tomorrow's blessings. I often tell my church that our soul-winning efforts today determine our church attendance in two to three weeks. One reason I start pushing for a big day several weeks ahead is because I know that God rewards the effort of our people from the previous weeks of visiting for the big day. Many become disappointed with God because they worked hard on the Saturday before a big day, only to have nothing happen on the big day. Then, the next Sunday is when they have more people in church attendance than they did on the big day. Why does this happen? Because God rewards our tomorrow by today's effort.
My friend, putting away sin today often gives God's blessings tomorrow. To put away sin today and expect God to bless me today goes against every example and principle that we find in God's Word. I have learned that when I do better at conquering my sin today, God rewards me in the weeks to come, and not today. You must remember that we sanctify ourselves today so that we can see God do His wonders tomorrow.
Third, if you sanctify your life for God to use every day, you can have a blessed tomorrow every day. I know this sounds redundant, but if I do what is right by sanctifying my life on a daily basis for God to use me, then my tomorrows will always see God's power working through my life. If you want God to do something miraculous through your life, sanctify your life daily, and you will see His power work through your life on a regular basis.
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