Articles
Today is Today
Today is Today
by Dee Bowman
Jesus said in His mountain message, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:34). What a telling statement. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the value and beauty of a single day.
Each day has its own sunrise, its own sunset.
No two are exactly alike. Every day is different, with its own weather, its own wind and temperature, its own warmth or lack of it. Every sunrise is special in its own way; so with every sunset. They are all similar, but no two are the same. What a joy to see a new day born. Every sunrise speaks of a new beginnings, a new slate, a new page. No matter how bad last night’s nightmare, or yesterday’s bad weather, with the first splash of sunshine across your quilt, everything is washed clean and you can start over.
A new day is a resurrection of sorts, too. With each new day we are raised up to new possibilities, new perspectives, new opportunities to serve and glorify God.
Sunsets serve a purpose, too. They remind us of what we did or didn’t do that day. As the sun disappears each evening, we look for rest if we’ve used the day well. And it brings us little twinges of conscience if we didn’t. If you’re right with God, you can look forward to the sunset.
Each day has its own thoughts.
The thoughts that accompany each new day relate directly to neither yesterday or tomorrow; they belong peculiarly to today. You can’t do tomorrow’s thinking today. Sure, you can plan for tomorrow; but the thought you used to do so is today’s thought, not tomorrow’s. And you can relate back to yesterday in your mind, but the very thoughts you used are today’s thoughts, not yesterday’s. “As a man thinks in his heart so is he” (Prov. 23:7). Today’s thoughts belong to today.
Every day brings new circumstances and new possibilities. Circumstances have to be handled. So do possibilities. You have choose every day what you’ll do with them. That means you have to meditate, contemplate, discriminate, then decide on what actions you will take about what’s happening around you. Oh, you can put off thinking about it, but procrastination seldom serves anybody well, and you’ll likely be sorry if you put it off till later.
Good and evil thoughts battle one another every day. We all have some of both. You have to choose which you will allow residency in your mind. “…give no place to the Devil,” Paul said (Eph. 4:27). Someone has said “you can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.” It’s that way with evil thoughts. They’re going to race through your mind every day—count on it—but you don’t have to give them a place to stay.
Each day has its own joy and its own sadness.
Information, both good and bad, travels quickly these day. And each day you’ll find some good news and some bad, some joy and some sadness. Both, it seems to me, are necessary to the good life. The joys bring us encouragement and give us pleasure. Sadness brings us to a realization of who and where we are, and the fragileness of time. Just as joy encourages and makes our disposition sanguine, so sadness brings us stamina, teaches us patience, and keeps us courageous as we struggle through the vicissitudes of life.
Solomon said, “in the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider” (Eccl. 7:14). Did you notice that there is a day of prosperity and a day of adversity? The actions for each are recommended. When the day is good we should rejoice and be thankful; when it is not, we should give due consideration to the fragileness of life. Furthermore, we are told by the wise man, “Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other…” If you use each day to serve God, the adversity will be of as much benefit as will the joy. That’s if you serve God.
Each day is a gift from God.
Every one of them lasts 24 hours. It’s up to us what we do with them. We can use them to glorify Him, or we can waste them with inordinate pleasures, worldly ambitions, and illicit thoughts. It’s up to each one to decide what this 24 hours will mean in his life. And no matter how many of those 24 hours we still have, each one is its own, and each one will be used as we see fit to use it.
I read somewhere that “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present.” “It is not the care of the day, but the cares of tomorrow that weigh man down. For the needs of today, we have corresponding strength given. For the morrow, we must trust. It is not ours yet” (George MacDonald).
“Today, if you will hear His voice…” (Psa. 95:7).
