Photo courtesy of Mary Anne Morgan.

We hope you enjoy this re-post from July 13, 2014. Be blessed! The Today’s Quote From God Team

Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? – Ecclesiastes 3:22, KJV

I admit it. I am a Star Wars junkie. When I was a teenager, I watched the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV) over 30 times in one month on Summer vacation. By the time I returned to school, I impressed my friends (not necessarily in a good way) with my ability to recite almost the entire script!

In The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V), we were introduced to the character of Yoda. The little green guy has said quite a few wise things throughout the Star Wars franchise, not the least of which is this quote from Episode V:

Ready are you? What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained. A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing…

In the scene from which this quote came, Luke Skywalker, a budding Jedi knight, proclaimed that he was ready to begin his training. Wise, old Yoda, however, saw things differently, and for years I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was about looking into the future. Why would Yoda cite Luke’s obsession with the future as a character flaw? Now, in my middle-aged years, it makes perfect sense.

To be sure, there is nothing wrong with looking into the future and planning ahead. God Himself prompted Joseph to prepare for the coming famine, and Proverbs 22:3 (KJV) states, “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.” But to become so obsessed with reaching tomorrow’s goals that we can’t enjoy today’s journey causes us to be immersed in anxiety and stress. Constantly swimming in a swamp of anxiety and stress brings health problems, spiritual problems, and relationship problems that rob God’s children of the joy-filled lives He intended for us all.

God (through Solomon) tells us to enjoy life by taking pleasure in the work that He has given us today. God (through Paul) tells us to be content in whatsoever state we are in today. Jesus tells us to take no (anxious) thought for the morrow and focus on today. Though we should definitely not ignore the future, we also should definitely not ignore the opportunity that God has given us to enjoy the here and now. Count today’s blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessing and see what God hath done – today!