Early Thursday morning, October 23, my dad was taken to the hospital after a fall and a severe head injury.
This was the devotional for that day in a book I’ve been reading, Just Jesus: A 365 Day Devotional.
The title was:
The Time Is Now.
And beneath it were these words:
“Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
James 4:14
Yesterday, October 24, at 3:27 p.m., my dad passed away.
It hasn’t even been a full day.
I’m not ready to turn losing my dad into a lesson. There is still so much I haven’t even begun to process. So today, I’m simply sharing the thought I’ve found myself dwelling on after reading the devotional that was waiting for me on October 23:
You do not know what will happen tomorrow.
I’ve read James 4:14 before. I’ve understood what it means.
Today, I understand its weight.
We live so much of our lives assuming there will be more time.
More time to say what needs to be said.
More time to forgive.
More time to love people well.
More time to change our priorities.
More time to become serious about following Jesus.
But Scripture never promises us tomorrow.
It gives us today.
For the past several weeks, we’ve been talking about discernment: learning to recognize God’s voice and His leading. I had planned for our next reflections to move into discipleship, what happens after we discern His voice.
Will we follow?
I never imagined this would be the way we entered that conversation.
Jesus didn’t simply call people to recognize who He was. He said:
“Follow Me.”
Matthew 4:19 NASB
Discipleship isn’t something we prepare to begin someday when life settles down, when we understand more, when we’re less afraid, or when the timing feels right.
Following Jesus happens with the life we have been given.
And none of us knows how much of that life remains.
The devotional I read that day ends with a question about whether our personal priorities need to change to align with the Lord’s.
Today, that question feels very different to me.
So I don’t have a long reflection this week.
I have one question:
If you knew you weren’t promised tomorrow, what would need to change today?
Love them today.
Forgive today.
Say what needs to be said today.
And if you’ve been waiting for another time to fully follow Jesus, don’t assume there will be a better one.
The time is now.
My dad had something he would say to people everywhere he went. Sometimes it was someone handing him his food in a drive-through. Sometimes it was a stranger he passed at the grocery store.
“You’ve got a friend in Jesus.”
Yesterday, Dad left this life knowing that Friend.
And today, more than ever, I understand why he wanted other people to know Him too.
You’ve got a friend in Jesus.
Don’t wait until tomorrow to know Him.
The time is now.
In loving memory of my dad.
October 24, 2026