Today

Only today is today. It isn’t yesterday or tomorrow. If you’re reading or listening to this ThinkSpace, your day already began with a magnificent gift from God: LIFE! Your first reason to be thankful was delivered even before you opened your eyes.

Every today is different. Maybe this is an epic one. Maybe it’s a sad or a challenging one. Maybe it’s an ordinary day that seems dull and routine. While you may not be able to control the circumstances, you can choose how you react to them. That part is up to you. The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “into each life some rain must fall.” He was right. Sometimes it’s a sprinkle and sometimes it’s a flood. We can choose to open the door and let misery in, or make the best of it with what we have to work with. Why not make the best of it?

Today contains 24 hours. Some of them you’ll need to use for good sleep so your body can rest, repair, and recalibrate. Then there’s most likely a block of hours where you’ll need to work to make a living or care for loved ones. That’s where the routine comes in that can seem never-ending – yet it’s a necessary part of life. In between these hours, you have more freedom than you may realize. 

We all need to relax and enjoy life – this isn’t about that. This is to encourage you to think about what you may be doing that holds you back from making every “today” better.

What you do with your daily freedom says a lot about your values. 

Values are what you will choose to do, say, and believe today because they’re important to you. It’s part of your character. Daily freedom allows everyone to make value-based choices like these:

• Use time or waste time. 
• Choose help or stay injured. 
• Get active or stay sedentary. 
• Eat healthy or eat poorly.
• Interact or isolate.
• Give more or take more.

Do you see a pattern here? There are two sides to each of these choices that are based on values. In every case, an exchange is made. If you value wasting time, you won’t be able to use that time for something useful. If you value your pride and privacy about something that’s happened to you, you can’t receive help that’s offered. There’s one more to add: 

• Spend time with God or avoid Him.

If your days are filled with activities, but you’ve left no time to pray, or read your Bible or a devotional, you’ll miss the chance to hear from Him. Choose to value your relationship with God and spend time with Him today.

Here’s what the Holy Bible has to say about today in Psalm 118:24 (NLT):

“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

He gave it to you. Make it count!

RESET HIGHER: What stood out to you that you can change today? You can do it! It not only will make this day better, it will make tomorrow better too!