“It takes all sorts of people to make a world.” I have heard that expression all of my life. I have no idea who first coined the saying. But there is much truth in it, for it is indeed correct to say that there are all kinds of people in the world. No matter where you go there are some general principles that are true of them, however. Folks fit into several different categories, whether you are in Paris, France or Paris, Tennessee, Rome, Italy or Rome, Georgia.

In that sense it could be said that human beings are more alike than they are different, no matter the culture they live in or the language that they speak. As different as they may seem, they are nevertheless very similar in their habits and ways of thinking and living. Certainly it may be said that this is at least one of the ways that Ecclesiastes meant to suggest that “there is nothing new under the sun”: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (1:9).

People keep making the identical mistakes of past generations, and there seems little hope of helping the human family and keeping them away from the errors and mistakes of those who have gone before us. Is it not interesting to see American speeding headlong down the foolish path of socialism, even though we have seen many countries brought to ruin in the past on its account? But that is the way of man. He thinks that this time it will be different than all of the previous times. And so he attempts it one more time in the fruitless hope that this time we will get it right!

1. Some People Live in the Past. This is another area where we tend to try again to do what others before us have attempted but failed. A good many older people tend to think this way. We think that the past may somehow or other be resurrected and we will be able to live in those days again. But this is sheer folly. It is no use at all to try to bring back the days gone by. Those days are passed and gone. They will never be back again. Would it not be better to try to deal with the things that are rather than to try to bring back the things that once were? The days of the buggy whip are over. The old “land line” telephone is a dinosaur; it will never return. Whether you like them or not, the automobile and the mobile telephone, or “smart phone,” are here to stay. That is the world of today and it is the world that we must live in and learn to adjust to. This is also true of many other realities that we may deem, on moral grounds, to be reprehensible. These are the new realities with which we must learn to deal. It is no use to dream again of the days of “Ozzie and Harriet” and the 1950’s. That world is gone. Let us do our best to survive, and perhaps even thrive, in this uncomfortable new reality in which we find ourselves.

2. Some People Live in the Future. There is another group of people that we meet with occasionally, who are waiting to start living until some point in the future. It may be when they have finished school, or college, or even when they have reached retirement. They put off looking for a mate, or marriage, or starting a family, or they put off enjoyment of many simple pleasures until they have reached that important future date. This may be wise in some instances, but in other instances it is being “penny-wise and pound-foolish.” I have known a number of young women in my life who have put off marriage and family until it was impossible for them to bear children. I have known both men and women who have put off marriage until, as they sometimes say, “all of the best ones are taken.” Big mistake! I have also seen people shove aside the whole family thing for the sake of a career, and then when they had accomplished what they wanted for their career, they were past the point of having a family any longer for a whole host of reasons. But saddest of all are those people who put off family time or simple human pleasures until retirement, only to lose their health just prior to the time when they will be able to realize all of their dreams.

3. Smart People Live in the Here and Now. The Lord has warned us that we do not know what will be on the morrow. All we ever truly have is here and now. The past is gone forever, and we cannot change one thing that we have done that was badly planned or poorly executed. The future is only a fantasy. We may live to enjoy it; and then again, we may not. God has given us “now” to serve him and give him praise, to worship and glorify his name. As Haggai 1:5 says, “And, now therefore, thus says the Lord of Hosts, consider your ways…” The past may not be retrieved; it is out of our reach. If it was wasted, so be it. No use to “cry over spilt milk.” The future, on the other hand, may never be. We may hope and dream of what someday may be. But in fact, we only have today. Hebrews 3:15 therefore says, “Today,  if you hear his voice, harden not your heart as in the rebellion.” Learn the important lessons of history. Do not repeat the foolish errors of those who have gone before us. This may be the only time we will have to serve God. So, let us do it while we still may, in the here and now!