Friday; February 3

Don McLean would call it “The Day The Music Died” in his hit song, “American Pie”. In the early morning hours of February 3, 1959 a Beechcraft Bonanza took off from Clear Lake, Iowa headed to Moorhead, Minnesota; but the plane never made it and three stars faded into the horizon. Buddy Holly was 22-years-old, Richie Valens was 17 and J. P. Richardson was 28 when they died in the plane crash. They were all famous, but their lives were cut short in an Iowa cornfield on a cold Midwestern night.

I have always been a big Buddy Holly fan, and find it hard to believe that he accomplished as much as he did in so few years. His music brought pleasure to so many people and inspired generations of musicians. Richardson, better known as The Big Bopper made the most of a novelty song. Richie Valens had hit the charts to the point that he was part of a star-studded Rock and Roll Show. Unfortunately, their fame and stardom couldn’t save them from that fateful night.

When I think about February 3, I always think about this tragedy and am brought back to the words of James, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14). We can make all the plans we want – we can set out to achieve all we can imagine – but we never know how long we have to live. While this is the reality of life and death, we must keep in mind to do what we can when we can because there is no promise of extra time. Today is the only day we are promised.

What do you hope to accomplish? What do you need to do? Remember, tomorrow is no certainty; so today is the day!

Think About It!

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