TODAY IS THE DAY!
When we get up every morning we have two choices. We can either look back at yesterday or we can look forward to the day in front of us. Yesterday might have been either good or bad, but it shouldn’t ever determine what’s going to happen today. If it was bad, quit looking at it. If it was good, don’t let it go to your head.
We all have had bad things that have happened in the past that have been a challenge for us in the present. Sometimes those things were big—sometimes they were small. Some people continue to let those things get them down and become paralyzed by the past. Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today! You can’t go back and change what’s happened in the past. It’s happened, so accept where you are, and ask what you can do to change tomorrow.
You can start right where you are today! Begin to correct mistakes, and ask God to help you do things differently. You can change where you will be next week, next year, next decade, etc. You can’t change the past, but you can begin today to change the future!
Most of us want to make changes in life, but we conveniently find excuses why we can’t start now. We tend to think we will wait until another time. Let me remind us—we do not have to have all our ducks in a row to start doing something good. That’s like waiting until all the traffic lights are green before we leave the house. If we do that, we’ll never go anywhere.
I love being around people who are willing to tackle tough situations. They don’t let common sense get in the way of beginning to do things that everybody else thinks are impossible. The person who says it can’t be done should never interrupt the one who is doing it! The wise author of the wisdom literature said, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” (Ecclesiastes 11:4)
The time to start is now—at least you’re on track. Will Rogers reminds us, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there!”
When Ramsay MacDonald was Prime Minister of England he was discussing with another government official the possibility of an enduring peace. The government official, an expert on foreign affairs, was unimpressed by the Prime Minister’s idealistic thinking. He remarked cynically, “The desire for peace does not necessarily ensure it.” MacDonald thought for a minute and then responded, “Quite true. Neither does the desire for food satisfy your hunger. But at least it gets you started towards a restaurant.”
What does God want you to start today? Don’t find an excuse. Don’t say to yourself, “Someday, I’ll get started…” As Derric Johnson reminds, “There are seven days in the week, but someday isn’t one of them!” You’ll never finish if you don’t start!
Let me paraphrase David in Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it if we passionately pursue and practice His purpose for our lives!”
Is today the day for you?
