“Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”
This quote is from Bil Keene, the famous cartoonist who created ‘Family Circus’.
The reality of this quote has become so salient in my life as the days and weeks go by. I used to plan the 15 things I wanted to get done during the day and many times I struggle to get to number three or four before evening comes and my strength begins to wane. So, I am relegated to working smarter. That doesn’t always pan out positively as smarter is often even slower. But when I consider the fact that each day I have been given is a gift from God, it puts things into a proper perspective for me.
Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher had a very compelling quote. He said,”Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.” This statement has caused me to reflect on how I allocate this precious resource that I have at my disposal. What do I involve myself in that has an impact on the landscape around me? I often find myself frivolously squandering this perk and later realize that once spent, this prized possession is impossible to recapture.
James chapter 4 verse 14 states,“What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
When I was younger this verse did not make sense to me. But now, as the hair that I have left has turned gray, I understand it more fully. I think back to my teen years and they seem like yesterday. So much has happened in my life and yet it has gone by so quickly.
When I was about 35 years old, a precious lady who was in her 70’s explained this concept to me and I found her description to be so insightful. She said,”When I was 10, one year was one tenth of my life. Now that I am 70, one year is one seventieth of my life. It is now such a small piece of my existence.”
In Psalm 90 verse 12, the Psalmist asks God to help us with this. It says,“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
As I go around and visit with the elderly, I am amazed at the wisdom they have gleaned over the years. More than ever, at this point in life, our focus needs to be on the gift that we are given each morning that we open our eyes to a new day.
A portion of scripture I would like to leave you all with is taken from II Corinthians 4:16-18. The Apostle Paul writes,“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Let us look at each day, each minute, each hour as a divine gift from our Heavenly Father. May we always purpose to make the most of this endowment, fixing our eyes on Jesus, and never miss an opportunity to be a blessing to those God puts in our path.
