You may begin singing along now…”Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they’re here to stay, Oh I believe in yesterday”.  Of course those words were famously written and sung in 1965 by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.  You can stop singing now…

What is the writer of this song longing for? A return to “yesterday” when things were much better, in particular referring to some girl that left him. Doesn’t matter who – for me, it’s the message that we long for something in the past.

In case you didn’t know this, I have an advanced degree in sentimentality. Instead of something important like CPA or LPC, I should probably have the initials, SOF (sentimental old fool) after my name. I can long for yesterday too. A concrete example – many of you know that I used to be a seminar instructor for Crown Financial Ministries for about 10 years. There are times where I look back on some of that heady stuff when I was the only seminar instructor in an area that touched 4 states and I long for a return to yesterday. And just in case the point wasn’t clear – I STILL MISS IT! But that door is closed, so we must move on.

In Exodus 14, we read about the Israelites who were looking back also:

10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (NASB)

There’s another song out there, also entitled “Yesterday”.  You can look up versions on YouTube, although the video ones are quite lengthy. It was written and sung by one of my very favorite bass singers, the late George Younce of the Cathedral quartet. It was written in 1969, and as many of us recall, a very turbulent time in America, not unlike today.  Look at these words – and then compare and contrast the message:

Yesterday

Author: George Younce
Copyright: © Les Beasley Publishing.
Albums: Jesus is Coming Soon (1969)
Albums: Reunion (1995)

(Chorus)
Yesterday things were different
Today they’re different again
Jesus will never change
Jesus is always the same

1. The sparrow will find a new dwelling
The eagle will change its nest
But I’m holding on the changeless One
And I’m leaning on His breast

2. The river will change, change its course
The mountains may crumble and fall
Time will leave its mark, they say
Upon us one and all

Repeat Chorus

Hebrews 11: 8-10 tells us: By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (NASB)

Many of you reading this are or will be undergoing changes, some of them major.  We can either be like the Israelites or we can focus on Jesus. Help us Lord to keep our eyes on you because you never change!