Today is the Only Day You Can Live

Psalm 118:24, “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

If you are anything like me, you might have a tendency to set goals that are in the distant future. You have an idea of what you would like to have, be or do, but no solid plan to achieve it. Maybe you spend more time thinking about it and talking about it than you spend doing anything about it. Today gets wasted as you hope for tomorrow rather than taking the actions right in front of you.

Before we discuss further, let’s lay down our Trinity of Truth, because…it’s the Word!

1. Today is the only day you can do anything about! Matthew 6:34 – “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Jesus is speaking here and commanding us to not have anxiety about tomorrow. We can’t do anything about tomorrow. We can only live today. Earlier in verse 11 of this chapter, as Jesus is modeling how to pray, He says’ “Give us this day our daily bread,” Notice that He only deals with a single day.

2. It’s OK to makes plans for tomorrow, but it’s not guaranteed. James 4:13-15, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

3. God has your next step for today. Have you checked in with Him about it? Psalm 37:23-24 “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. 24 Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”

These Scriptures might be very familiar to you, but have you really heard them? Have you applied them in your health and wellness journey? When was the last time you made the most of today by inviting God into every detail?

At various points in my life, I wasted today trying to re-live yesterday or simply hoping for tomorrow. The problem is that we can’t live yesterday or tomorrow. We can only live right now – TODAY. We can hope for tomorrow and dream for tomorrow, but the steps that will fulfill those hopes and dreams must be taken today, otherwise we will find ourselves paralyzed and stuck.

I wear an Apple Watch and a FitBit, which both track my physical steps each day. There has never been a day in which I took no steps. However, if I had a FaithBit that tracked my steps of faith, my steps in obedience to the Word, my steps in the race that God has set before me…sadly, there are days that my feet have been idle in doubt, fear, unforgiveness, depression, weariness, guilt, shame and countless other weights. Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

The good news is that God has provided everything that we need for today! He is strength in our weakness. He supplies all of our needs according to His riches in glory. He has ordered our steps! He gave us His Word to equip us, encourage us and direct us. When we hear His Word, faith comes! He gave us His Spirit, and the fruit of His Spirit includes self control!

Every aspect of our lives, including our weight-loss and wellness journey, is lived out in the actions/steps we take today. What will you do TODAY to live like the person you want to be? What is your first step?