The Present

This morning I am in Alpena, Michigan, visiting friends, Jill and Wayne.  It is soon supposed to start snowing, and the prediction is that we will get up to 8”!  It has also been more than 6 weeks since that old groundhog, Punxsutawney Phi, saw his shadow, so at this point I’m getting tired of snow, and am instead wishing for Spring.

And that brings me to the point of today’s devotional.

I think a lot of time we spend our days wishing them away, focused on something that we hope will occur in the days to come, rather than enjoying the moments we are living RIGHT NOW.

Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

I once heard something that said, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift…that’s why they call it the present.” . 

None of us knows what tomorrow will bring, or even if we will HAVE a tomorrow; so spending too much time focused on that uncertain future means we are not enjoying what is right in front of us, RIGHT NOW.

In economics class we were taught about “opportunity cost.”  Opportunity cost has to do with the choices we make, and represents the potential that is lost when making one choice over another.

Each person has 24 hours in their day.  Whether you choose to spend that time:

  • ·         Looking for opportunities to tell the people in your life that you love them
  • ·         Working to deepen your relationship with God
  • ·         Serving Others

Or,

  • ·         Focusing all of your time and energy on a future that may or may not happen  

is up to you...

However, when we make our choices about how to spend our time, we must recognize the opportunity cost of those choices.

So today, instead of being unhappy about yet another snowfall, I think I will rejoice and enjoy what may be the last snow of the season, the last fire in the fireplace, or the last snowman - till next year….

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