"You’re cheating yourself out of today. Today is calling to you, trying to get your attention, but you’re stuck on tomorrow, and today trickles away like water down a drain. You wake up the next morning and that today you wasted is gone forever. It’s now yesterday. Some of those moments may have had wonderful things in store for you , but now you’ll never know.”
DEUTERONOMY 25-26
17You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him. 18And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands..(26:17-18)
JOURNAL
So much of Scripture seems to push us toward the same realization. Pay attention to today. Do not waste it. Live it intentionally before God.
In Deuteronomy the phrase “this day” appears again and again. God tells the Israelites that this day they have declared that the Lord is their God, and this day the Lord declares that they are His people, His treasured possession. There is something powerful about the focus on the present moment. Faith is not just a belief about the past or a hope for the future. It is something lived today through obedience, attention, and presence.
The crucifixion scene in Mark makes this even more striking. For us it is the most important moment in human history. For many of the people there, it was just another execution. Crucifixions were common. Criminals were executed all the time. People walked by, glanced up, mocked, and kept moving. Some probably had errands to run, conversations to finish, or meals waiting at home. They passed by the Son of God dying for the sins of the world and treated it like background noise.
History was turning in that moment, yet most people present did not recognize it.
That makes me wonder how many things I pass by in my own day that I assume are ordinary or unimportant. How many conversations, opportunities, or moments of influence do I overlook because my mind is somewhere else. How often am I distracted by tomorrow while the gift of today quietly slips away.
Today is the only day that can actually be lived. Yesterday is finished. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Today is where obedience happens. Today is where love happens. Today is where influence happens.
God has given me this day with the ability to think, teach, influence, lead, and love. Somewhere in the next twenty four hours there will be moments that matter more than I realize. I do not want to walk past them the way people once walked past the cross.
Be present. Be grateful. Be attentive to God. Make this day count.
So much of Scripture seems to push us toward the same realization. Pay attention to today. Do not waste it. Live it intentionally before God.
In Deuteronomy the phrase “this day” appears again and again. God tells the Israelites that this day they have declared that the Lord is their God, and this day the Lord declares that they are His people, His treasured possession. There is something powerful about the focus on the present moment. Faith is not just a belief about the past or a hope for the future. It is something lived today through obedience, attention, and presence.
The crucifixion scene in Mark makes this even more striking. For us it is the most important moment in human history. For many of the people there, it was just another execution. Crucifixions were common. Criminals were executed all the time. People walked by, glanced up, mocked, and kept moving. Some probably had errands to run, conversations to finish, or meals waiting at home. They passed by the Son of God dying for the sins of the world and treated it like background noise.
History was turning in that moment, yet most people present did not recognize it.
That makes me wonder how many things I pass by in my own day that I assume are ordinary or unimportant. How many conversations, opportunities, or moments of influence do I overlook because my mind is somewhere else. How often am I distracted by tomorrow while the gift of today quietly slips away.
Today is the only day that can actually be lived. Yesterday is finished. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Today is where obedience happens. Today is where love happens. Today is where influence happens.
God has given me this day with the ability to think, teach, influence, lead, and love. Somewhere in the next twenty four hours there will be moments that matter more than I realize. I do not want to walk past them the way people once walked past the cross.
ROMANS 12:2
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