Today Can Be Lost Forever

 October 22, 2024

Tuesday

Last night I packed so that I could meet my wife in DC and drive her back from a meeting she had this week. I would ride Amtrak up and drive her back. I keep a little packet of important documents with me when I travel. They include my passport, global entry card, passport card and a couple of Metro train passes. I couldn't find it anywhere though I spent hours looking. What bothered me was how irresponsible I was in losing these important identifications. I certainly don't need any of these things for this trip. I can easily get another Metro card when I get to DC. Yet, it is completely irresponsible to leave something as valuable lying somewhere so that you can't find them.

Today, I will spend some time seeing what I can do to get them replaced. I will call the places that I remember having them and see if they have been found. If not, it will cost me. Yet, I still castigate myself for losing them.

It seems that this is the way we lose things. We can lose a job, a marriage, or even a child by not paying attention to what is the most important things.

Jesus took His closest disciples with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane. They were asked to pray. They had just eaten a big meal. They did not know how important the moment was. They fell asleep. Jesus said, "Could you not pray with me for an hour?" An hour doesn't seem to be very long. An hour is easily wasted. It is lost before you know it. It was just one of the most important hours of their lives.

But not only an hour can be lost. A day, a week, a month, a year, and a life can be lost. Unlike my documents, a marriage isn't lost in a day. It is lost because one or both of the people in the marriage didn't protect it. They lost it because they let it slip away. That is true with raising children, working a job and living out your purpose. Most Christians do not get out of stage two of maturity. They will trust in Christ for salvation. The Holy Spirit comes to inhabit them and they ignore or disobey everything He leads them to do. They are saved but act like they aren't for the most part. They will not be lost but the life they could have had will be.

Proverbs 24:33–34 (ESV)³³ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, ³⁴ and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Please don't let this day pass you by. Don't lose it because you have treated it as if it has no value. Yes, listen to the Lord and obey