If you want tomorrow to work out, it has everything to do with how you live today.

It was the first chapel of 2012 and students at Smithville Christian High School were invited to look back at the past and look forward to the future.

Spiritual life director Mr. Gord Park said if we want to be able to look back at our lives and say “that went well,” and if we want to be able to look forward and be able to say “it’s going to go well,” we need the advice found in Ephesians 5: 15-17.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. . . . Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Mr. Park said God has given us the gift of time and we are called to make the most of every opportunity. He said sin and Satan try to make us waste time, by worrying about the things we’ve done wrong in the past or by worrying about the consequences that are to come.

But he said we have “eternity in our hearts” and we should not let the “time bandits” of sin and Satan rob us of the peace God is able to give. He said there are other good things in our lives that can also turn into time bandits if we let them have too much influence: commitments, possessions, work or information.

Mr. Park also said we can look forward to a great future if we live according to God’s will. He said James 4 offers instructions on how to follow God. We need to avoid following sensual desires, putting ourselves first, praying with the wrong motive, failing to confess known sin, choosing the wrong friends, refusing to be humble and rejecting the grace of God.

“What are you going to do with your time so one year from now you can say ‘I made the most of the time I had?’” Mr. Park asked the students.

If we work on our relationship with God, it will also benefit our other relationships – with our families, with our friends, and with people we haven’t met yet.

“Don’t spend one second worrying about the past,” Mr. Park said, “and know that your future is in his hands. Right now God has a plan for you and his Holy Spirit is leading you – right now.

“If you want tomorrow to work out, it has everything to do with how you live today.”

Members of Student Council announced details of the upcoming ski trip and the Praise Team led us in wonderful worship.