Friday 18 May 2012

HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ABOUT TODAY?


“Annabel, I can never forgive you, you hurt me so much. You made me wet my pillow, I just wish there was a way I could make it all go away, but I can’t, it hurts too much. But you know, you can come back tomorrow or the day after, and I just might be willing to forgive, but right now, I really cannot talk to you”.

I was going to forgive Annabel but not at that time, I was too angry to speak to her, she had hurt me too much. But now, I hurt even more because on her way home from my house she got into an accident and she died. She did not make it till the next day neither did she make it to the day after tomorrow. She died without my forgiveness.

“Akin, I’m so sorry to hear about your sister’s accident, but the money I have with me right now is for something important, please come back next week and I will get you the amount you need. Today isn’t just a good day, I cannot spare”.

I really wanted to give Akin some money for his sister, so I went by his house the following week, but when I got there, the house wore black, there was wailing and crying, I couldn’t comprehend it, the sadness and pain that filled the house was unspeakable. I moved closer to see what was going on, and I was told that Salewa, Akin’s sister had died. Fear gripped me, I didn’t think Salewa would die like that, I thought she had more time. I had the money but I had plans for the money when he came for help. But if I knew Salewa was going to die, I would have spared the money I had on me that day. I don’t know what would have happened to Salewa if I had given the money to Akin but now I would pay anything to rewind that day when Akin came to my living room to ask for my help. He knew I had the money and he came to me but I let him down.

“Look Peter, I do not have the time to spare now, please come back in the evening and ill be available to hear you out”.

Peter did not come back that night but the next time I would hear of Peter, he had committed suicide in his living room. I knew he had issues but I didn’t know they weighed him down so much that he would take his life. If I had known that the night Peter came to me would be the last time I would set my eyes on him, I would have made a different choice.

As human beings, we are always so worried about tomorrow that we forget there is a today and Just as the above stories, we do find ourselves in situations where we can help others, but sometimes we are too busy, at other times, we are lost in the thought of ourselves, and some other times, we are just not in the mood to help.

 Many times the opportunity to help, to forgive, to save, to comfort comes our way, but carelessly we let it slip away and when we come to a place of regret, we wonder why  we couldn’t have just been there for a friend.

The truth is, we would never know what will happen tomorrow, we would never know the fate of another man, we would never know the fate of that person who has come to us for help, we would never know if the young man who is standing in front of us would make it to the next day, even you who tell a man to come back the next day when you can help him now, how do you know that the next day would be there.

Do not be so quick to say come back when the chance lies in your hand to help another. Do what you have to do today, tomorrow may be too late. Do not live a life of regret tomorrow because you have failed to do that which is in your power today.

Coming to think of it, it is not like we have the power to save, make alive or kill anyone, it only means that whatsoever we have the power to do, we should do it so we can have a clear conscience and not live in guilt of what would have happened if we had done this or that. You want to forgive, do it today, you want to love, do it today, you want to help a friend, do it today, you want to pray, do it today, you want to visit the orphanage, do it today, you want to do the will of God and obey Him totally, do it today so that when you are privileged to see tomorrow, you will know that it is another chance to live a better today.

Do not be quick to dismiss people, do not be quick to judge others, do not be quick to say I cannot, do not be quick to say come back tomorrow. Build an attitude of love, because you do not know what will happen tomorrow, Stop pushing things forward to the tomorrow that will soon become the today that you will never have time to think about because of another tomorrow. There will always be a today, but we don’t know if there will always be a tomorrow. So the today that you can see, that you can hold, that you can have, why not cherish it and make the most of it, make use of your today like it is the last day you have because just one day it will be.

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