"O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!"
Deuteronomy 32:29
This is God, seemingly frustrated that people won't consider "their latter end," which I think means in essence that he would like us to consider long-term thinking. Of course, God also tells us in Matthew 6:34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." So, perhaps sometimes we need to think long-term and sometimes not? :)
This chapter is about life... where we came from (premortal life) and where we are going (life after death), and how this life affects that process, so the long-term thinking is about obedience, and listening to God's guidance as he tries to help us find the happiest future / eternity possible. The chapter in Matthew is about focusing on an individual day rather than on everything so that we don't get overwhelmed with needing to solve everything... we only have to solve one day's worth of problems at a time. :) Both pieces of advice are good, and they don't contradict each other. Just different parts of the same whole, where we make God the center of our lives and follow him, planning ahead and looking to prepare for eternity, but still not letting ourselves get overwhelmed.
Today, let's make sure that we consider where we are going after this life, and bake that into our actions and our decisions. But let's also not let eternity scare us or overwhelm us. Let's do what we can do today, and try to get better each day, but let's not give up when we make mistakes. Let's just repent and keep trying. It isn't impossible if we just focus on doing what we can today, and aiming at improvement over the long term. :)
Deuteronomy 32:29
This is God, seemingly frustrated that people won't consider "their latter end," which I think means in essence that he would like us to consider long-term thinking. Of course, God also tells us in Matthew 6:34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." So, perhaps sometimes we need to think long-term and sometimes not? :)
This chapter is about life... where we came from (premortal life) and where we are going (life after death), and how this life affects that process, so the long-term thinking is about obedience, and listening to God's guidance as he tries to help us find the happiest future / eternity possible. The chapter in Matthew is about focusing on an individual day rather than on everything so that we don't get overwhelmed with needing to solve everything... we only have to solve one day's worth of problems at a time. :) Both pieces of advice are good, and they don't contradict each other. Just different parts of the same whole, where we make God the center of our lives and follow him, planning ahead and looking to prepare for eternity, but still not letting ourselves get overwhelmed.
Today, let's make sure that we consider where we are going after this life, and bake that into our actions and our decisions. But let's also not let eternity scare us or overwhelm us. Let's do what we can do today, and try to get better each day, but let's not give up when we make mistakes. Let's just repent and keep trying. It isn't impossible if we just focus on doing what we can today, and aiming at improvement over the long term. :)
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