I am not against New Year’s resolutions. Any effort we make to do better is worthy of praise in my book.

It strikes me, however, that Jesus pointed us to today, and only today. He also said not to worry about things that we consider absolute necessities in life such as food and clothing, but rather to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness. Jesus encouraged us with the idea that if we put God first, that God would take care of our needs:

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”,

Matthew 6:34

Another translation has rendered the last line, “Sufficient for the day is its evils.”

Trouble & Evil. Jesus seems to be telling us that each day will have a regular dose of each, and then tells us not to worry. Huh? Really?

Yes, really.

Remember; this is the one who stifled hypocrites with his teaching, fed thousands with nearly nothing, calmed stormy seas, walking on them. He cast out myriad demons, gave sight to the blind, healed leprosy, enabled the deaf to hear, the lame to walk and even, yes even raised the dead.

Jesus not only raised the dead, but was not afraid even to allow men to kill him, knowing his father would raise him up also, never to die again.

Jesus did all of these things with compassion, then taught us to have compassion, but also taught us to rely of his father’s compassion for our own care. He tells us not to worry about the future, but to live seeking God and his righteousness right now. This is really all that makes sense, since the only way to know what I will do on any given day in the future is to wait until I am there. At that point, that future day will have become a “today”.

Look for today's opportunities. Don’t frustrate yourself by trying to live tomorrow too soon. Marty Kessler