Seize The Day
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” - Matthew 6:34
You have probably heard of the Latin phrase “Carpe diem.” It is found in the first book of the Roman poet Horace’s work entitled “Odes.” It means, “seize the day.” And in the poem, this popular phrase is contained as part of the longer Latin sentence, “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero,” which translated means, "Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow.”
The statement argues that the future is unknown, so don’t wait to do tomorrow, what you can do today. That sentiment was first expressed in the ancient literary work The Epic of Gilgamesh, where after the tragic loss of Gilgamesh’s close friend, he is told by Siddur to abandon his mourning, to stop crying, to get up, seize the day and move on with his life.
Even Jesus would convey similar thoughts in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).
The point both Jesus and Horace were making is that we should never allow our hopes to be extinguished, our progress postponed, or our steps forestalled by the perils of the past or the anxieties of the future. Seize the day. Take hold of the possibilities that lie before you instead of allowing what happened behind you to incarcerate you. Don’t allow fear, doubt, and regret keep you from doing, getting, and possessing all that God has in store for you. Instead, seize the day and make the most of what God has given you in this moment, for none of us are promised tomorrow.
You have probably heard of the Latin phrase “Carpe diem.” It is found in the first book of the Roman poet Horace’s work entitled “Odes.” It means, “seize the day.” And in the poem, this popular phrase is contained as part of the longer Latin sentence, “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero,” which translated means, "Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow.”
The statement argues that the future is unknown, so don’t wait to do tomorrow, what you can do today. That sentiment was first expressed in the ancient literary work The Epic of Gilgamesh, where after the tragic loss of Gilgamesh’s close friend, he is told by Siddur to abandon his mourning, to stop crying, to get up, seize the day and move on with his life.
Even Jesus would convey similar thoughts in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).
The point both Jesus and Horace were making is that we should never allow our hopes to be extinguished, our progress postponed, or our steps forestalled by the perils of the past or the anxieties of the future. Seize the day. Take hold of the possibilities that lie before you instead of allowing what happened behind you to incarcerate you. Don’t allow fear, doubt, and regret keep you from doing, getting, and possessing all that God has in store for you. Instead, seize the day and make the most of what God has given you in this moment, for none of us are promised tomorrow.
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