Day One or One Day

2022 is almost over and a new year is about to begin. The older I get the more I realize how much time is behind me versus the time I have left in front of me. When I think about that, I often tend to regret the way I’ve wasted so much time. Time is something that you can never get more of. It’s a gift and one that must be used wisely and treasured.

I am a goal-setter and at the end of each year I tend to set goals for the coming year. I know where I want to go with my life and I want to make sure it happens. The easy part of this is making decisions about what I want to accomplish in the coming year. The hard part and I do mean the HARD part, is managing those decisions.

A couple of years ago, I preached a message called One Day or Day One. The gist of this message was that to reach your goals you will have to move from saying, “one day I’ll do this” to “today is day one of me getting what I want.” A very simple and subtle change of words but a very important one.

Far too many of us use One Day as an excuse to not manage today well.

There is no tomorrow, there is only today. Many times, we talk about what we will do tomorrow but tomorrow is always leading us into today. Tomorrow is that proverbial carrot in front of the horse. We see it but it is always just out of reach. We continually chase it, thinking that we will finally get it, but tomorrow never comes.

Since today is all that that we have, why not go into 2023 with the idea of Day One? Let each day be Day One of your journey. I am not talking about starting over each day but I guess in a way I am. For example, if you want to exercise and lose weight don’t just say I will start tomorrow. Start today and say, “Day One!” Then, when tomorrow has turned into today, say “Day One” again. This is a way of keeping you in the present and in the moment, which is really all you have. Yesterday’s victories are great but you need a today victory.

My point is that each day is the first day of the rest of your life so live it well. I am really good at wasting time and putting things off until tomorrow. The problem is that I end up not living to my fullest potential. I end up with regrets and missed opportunities. To have what I want “One Day” means that I have to consistently and diligently begin with “Day One.”

One day I hope to be making a certain level of income that I am not making now. There is no problem with that statement. However, if I don’t manage my dollars every day and put things into place on Day One then I will never hit my One Day income level. Don’t let One Day become your excuse. Instead, allow it to be your driving force behind each Day One!

January 1st, 2023 will not be a magical day. As a matter of fact, there is no such thing as a good day or a bad day. Days are neutral, neither good nor bad. The things that happen to us during the day are what’s good or bad. Our attitude also determines “good days and bad days”. Our attitude is going to be good or bad. Days are what we make of them.

A verse of scripture that God has really highlighted to me is Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” I have been thinking about this scripture since the first week of Advent. We all need hope. Hope is the anchor of the soul. Hope is what keeps us going when all seems lost.

As we move into 2023, my prayer is that the God of hope will fill you with joy and peace so that you overflow with hope. Christians ought to be the most hope-filled people. Yet, in my experience and in my own walk, that is not always the case.

I refuse to go into 2023 without hope. I’ve lived that way for far too long. As I enter 2023 I am going all in. Each day of 2023 will be my Day One! Each day will be a day to be treasured and valued. No one, not even God, can do this for me. It’s a decision I have to make. No one will do it for you either.

God will allow you to live in despair if you choose to. God will allow you to live without hope if you choose to. He doesn’t want that for you. He wants you to overflow with hope but it’s a choice you have to make and manage. Again, making the choice is easy but it’s managing that choice that is hard.

You can either live in a wishful thinking world of One Day it will happen. Or, you can live each day with intentionality and purpose as you boldly declare each morning, “today is Day One!”

Each day determines where you’ll end up tomorrow. Each decision you make today will find its consequences in tomorrow. Each decision today is a building block for your future.

I hope that you will choose Day One over One Day.