A Daily Deposit
This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24 NLT)
I want you to imagine that you receive an email from your bank this morning with startling and wonderful news. It announces that an anonymous donor has decided to deposit into your account 86,400 pennies a day for as long as you live. You think that this has to be a scam of some sort, but the calculator in your mind goes to work: 86,400 pennies is $864 a day. Every day. That’s – let’s see: $6,048 a week. Every week. That’s $314,496 a year, every year for as long as you live. It’s like winning the lottery! Reality sets in, but you call the bank anyway and discover that it’s true. So you ask the bank official, “What’s the catch?” “There is no catch,” he says, “but there is one stipulation: you must spend the money the day you receive it. Every morning $864 will be deposited in your account, but every evening the account will be zeroed out. What you don’t spend you will lose.”
You and I have an anonymous donor, actually not anonymous at all, who deposits in the account of your life and mine 86,400 seconds every day. My seconds are mine to spend however I choose. The donor has suggested how I should spend that time but there are no requirements. I get to decide how to spend mine. You get to decide how to spend yours.
Our scripture verse tells us what to do with today: rejoice, be glad. Think about this: the only day you can be happy is today. You can’t choose to be happy yesterday. We may someday have the opportunity to be happy in the future but we don’t have tomorrow yet.
Many times I have failed to appreciate and enjoy the day because I was fretting about something in the past. Yesterday was robbing me of today. Other times I have missed the joy because of my concerns about the future. Tomorrow was robbing me of today.
Remember, Jesus taught us in the model prayer to ask: “…give us this day our daily bread.” That’s how life comes – one day at a time. Today is the only chance you have to be happy. Take it. Today. Because this is the day the Lord has made we will rejoice and be glad!
Prayer
Dear God, forgive us when we lose sight of the precious, unrepeatable miracle that is today. And let us commit to use it as you intended! In the name of Jesus, Amen.
This devotional was written and recorded by Herb Sadler.
Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.
If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.
First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.
