future

Approaching eighty-five years of age, Mrs. Wells finally decided it was time to give up her home in North Carolina and move to Miami. She was given the name of a Florida realtor, who enthusiastically drove her all over Miami, extolling the virtues of every apartment they looked at.

"And this one, what a steal," he said, "the investment of a lifetime. Why, in ten years it's gonna be worth three times as much!"

"Sonny," interrupted Mrs. Wells, "at my age I don't even buy green bananas."

Age has a way of changing our perspective on time. When we were younger, we felt that we would live forever. But every year, we come more and more to grips with the idea that life is short, and every day is to be savored.

That's not to say that we shouldn't plan for the future (not buying green bananas is a little extreme!), but we should always live with the realization that we're not promised even one more day.

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' " (James 4:13-15)

May your plans for the future have God at the very center.