Altar Call –
Opelika-Auburn News
June 22, 2008
Live one day at a time
because you have no other choice
Some days I catch myself singing the
song that begins “One day at a time sweet Jesus, that’s all I’m asking from
you.” The simple tune is easy to remember. Singing the song is really a way of
praying for the song is actually a prayer, and one worth praying daily.
To ask Jesus for “one day at a time”
is like saying, “Lord, life is so hard that I can handle only one day at a
time. So please “just give me the strength to do everyday what I have to do.”
To make that request of Jesus is to admit that without divine assistance there
is no way I can make it through the night, or through the day.
I like the song, what it says and how
it feels in my soul. But I realize that one day at a time is all any of us will
ever get. Singing that song will not change the reality that life comes at us
one day at a time. Each new day is a gift and we must decide how to use it
morning by morning.
The song acknowledges that yesterday
is gone, “and tomorrow may never be mine.” The mature person soon realizes that
there is no way to change the past. To fret about past mistakes is to waste
energy that could be applied to today’s opportunities. We can learn from our
mistakes but we simply cannot live in the past.
Tomorrow is also beyond our grasp. To daydream
about what we might do tomorrow is to fail to make the most of today. If we are
to live well we must realize that today is all we have and we must make the
most of it before the sun goes down.
Defeats and failures can wound our
ego. They can also rob us of our willingness to make the most of each new day.
Depression and discouragement can cause us to sit and stare. Uncaring staring
allows self-pity to sap our energy and enthusiasm. But while we sit and stare
time does not stop to wait on us. The clock keeps ticking. Sunset follows
sunrise. Life goes on.
At the end of the day, the only
question that matters is, “Have I lived this day to the fullest or have I let
it slip away?” A day that is lost is a day that can never be regained. Once
lost, it is gone forever. When that happens, we can only resolve to “sleep it
off” and rise the next morning to live that day to the fullest.
A chest freezer taught me a great
lesson. We had one for many years in our garage. One day I realized that we
were making little use of it. We kept a bag of ice in sometimes, or a loaf of
bread. Finally I had to admit that to keep that freezer running was a waste of
money. My wife agreed and we gave it away.
Storing food may be done wisely of
course. Many people make good use of a freezer. I have no quarrel with that. But
the truth is, all we really need is food for today. If tomorrow never comes,
what good will it do to have a freezer full of food? Perhaps that is why Jesus
said when we pray we should say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We need
have more faith in God’s power to provide daily bread than in a freezer we have
provided for ourselves.
While we have no choice but to live
one day at time, we do have a choice about the attitude we may embrace each new
dawn. We can live with passion and compassion, joy and enthusiasm. We can
dismiss our regrets about yesterday. We can refuse to waste time daydreaming
about tomorrow.
We can live today to the fullest,
thankful for every precious hour, and squeeze it like an orange until there is
not a drop of joy left in it. + + +