"Woe to those who live only for today,
indifferent to the fate of others!
Woe to the playboys, the playgirls,
who think life is a party held just for them!" (Amos 6:4-5, The Message).
There is always need for balance in life. God's word admonishes us to live free of anxieties about tomorrow. That is good for our health and the health of our today. Please read Matthew 6:25-34. But the Bible does not teach against planning for tomorrow. It is true that the Bible says tomorrow will take care of itself, but that is also because we have put appropriate things in place to enable tomorrow take care of itself. Having anxieties or worrying is not the same thing as planning. The latter is positively productive while the former is not only useless but tends to multiply problems for today and tomorrow.
On the other hand, living a care-free, thoughtless and plan-less life is nothing but foolishness. Living only for today is living without a focus. It is living without sparing a thought for the future. And when you don't spare a thought for your future, you will find no need to commit your future into the hands of God. Tomorrow brings tears and regrets for such lives. Some must be told very loudly and repeatedly that life is not one big party that goes on and on. All playboys and playgirls must be told that the future will catch up with them one day, and then, they will become weeping men and women.
To my brethren in the Lord, living without planning for tomorrow is not wisdom from above. The Bible calls it living at ease in Zion. Such a lifestyle is indicative of neither faith nor trust in God. That is why the Bible is telling us that there is plenty of trouble coming for those who live only for today, having no plan for their future. And many believers are in that company in the name of living by faith or because Jesus is coming very soon. It is not for nothing that the word, "prepare" is found in the Bible 180 times. Even God Himself announced that He has a plan for our tomorrow (Jeremiah 29:11). Here is what I heard from a pastor friend years ago: a believer should live as if Jesus will come tomorrow but plan as if He is coming in a thousand years. I think this is godly wisdom.
Besides, tomorrow represents eternity. Living only for today is living without eternity in focus. That is a very precarious life to live. One day, you will die, and if you have never spared a thought for what would happen to you afterwards, you probably should be crowned the greatest fool the world has ever known. When I see people lie and defraud one another, thinking that they are smart today; when I see men sleep with other men's present or potential wives, thinking that they are having fun today; and when some folks kill their fellow men and destroy the property of others, I wonder if such people think that tomorrow won't come. Tomorrow is payday and it will surely come. Tomorrow is judgement day and it is not in the power of man to put it away. Your duty today is to ensure that that day does not come upon you unawares, otherwise you would only have yourself to blame.
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