The first two verses in this have strong implications for how we live our lives.
The first verse reminds us that we can become too focused on tomorrow that we forget about now. So many people want to live their lives in fast-forward that they forget to embrace the day they have been given. They are always worrying about tomorrow and never really embrace today. We should makes plans for the future. We should look forward to big events in our calendars. But we must live in the day we have been given each morning. Time moves fast. As I reflect on my own kids it is hard to believe that our daughter only has two more years of school and our littlest one is starting middle school. Time flies by fast. Memories are not made by always worrying about tomorrow. Memories are made when we live today and then reflect back on what was good in the days ahead. Our tomorrows will be better if we remember to live today the way God wants us to live. Each day is a gift from God and we must learn to enjoy the gift of the mundane typical days and not always live looking forward to the next big event on the calendar.
The second verse reminds us that we build our reputation by how we live our lives, but we don't need to brag about ourselves. The best evidence of a good and humble live is when someone else takes notice, not when we have to tell people what to look at. A good name and reputation is a great thing. It takes a long time to build and can be ruined in an instant. The importance of a good reputation is not just for our own benefit. As Christians our reputation will be connected to our relationship with Jesus. It is unfair, but many people think poorly of Christ because of the hypocrisy and failures of people who claim to be his followers. May we never create a barrier to salvation for someone because our witness in the life we live repels them from Christ rather than drawing them to him. A humble and good man will not need to talk about their character, others will do the talking for them. When their character is praised they will turn the glory back to Jesus.