Savor the future the Lord has written

Summer is one of my favorite seasons of the year (although I don't think there is any particular season I dislike). Summer bears witness to her own distinct sounds and smells. The smell of sunblock and swimming pools as children slowly turn golden brown. The feel of the grit and dirt of a baseball diamond. The sounds of late-night neighborhood fireworks bringing out the child in all of us. The ferocious race to savor a Popsicle before it melts into streams of red, orange or green on your face and clothes. Each day can bring spectacular simple joys.

Proverbs 27:1 reads, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." This proverb may sound familiar, for these are the same words that Jesus spoke in the gospels.

Just like that Popsicle melting under the heat of the summer sun, our days seem to drip away. Time moves faster than we want. Children grow faster than we want them to. Not a day goes by when somewhere, someone will ask, "Where did the time go?" This proverb gently reminds us that today is today.

This proverb and Jesus' teaching also remind each of us that we really do not know about tomorrow. Plans and dreams are not certainties. We should not stop dreaming of what future our Lord may be planning, but we do so knowing that we cannot control tomorrow any more than we can control our height.

Jesus clarified the great implication of these words when he elaborated on them by saying, "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." With gas prices, the housing market, the prices of produce and other foods, we have a reminder that each day brings new trouble. Jesus is teaching is that those who do not know God are the ones who fret about every detail of a future they cannot control. But those who know God look to the future without fret or worry because they know the one who holds tomorrow.

Savor the summer; enjoy the day because God can be trusted. Savor the melting Popsicle while praising God that you have that moment. Trust him for the future he has already written.

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father and serves as the associate pastor at the First Baptist Church in Jackson.