WISDOM Part 6

WISDOM Part 6

"The Wisdom of Living One Day at a Time"

Matt. 6: 25; 31-34

Several years ago, the country gospel singer Christy Lane scored an international hit with an old Kris Kristofferson tune entitled "One Day At A Time."

Its popularity probably had little to do with the music, for it was very ordinary.

Nor could you explain its appeal by Ms. Lane's voice.

She has a very nice voice, but not a great voice.

The bottom line is this: It was the words of the song that appealed to millions the world around, the words which deep down we all know are true and would all love to live out.

Now, notice that Jesus discusses the problem of worry when leading up to His advice to take life “one day at a time.”

The ability to live one day at a time and freedom from worry are connected.

The words "take no thought," refer to a doubting, anxious, fearful, and disturbed state of mind about the future.

One poster I read described the way a lot of people live. It said: 'Why pray when you can worry?'

FUNNY STORY:

Fresh out of business school, a young man answered a want ad for an accountant.

He was being interviewed by a very nervous man who ran a small business that he had started himself.

'I need someone with an accounting degree, ' the man said. 'But mainly, I'm looking for someone to do my worrying for me.'

'Excuse me?’ the accountant said.

'I worry about a lot of things, ' the man replied. 'But I don't want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back.'

'I see, ' the accountant said. 'And how much does the job pay? '

'I'll start you at eighty thousand.'

'Eighty thousand dollars!' the accountant exclaimed.

'How can such a small business afford a sum like that? '

'That, ' the man said, 'is your first worry.'

Statistics show that between 20 and 30 percent of all Americans will live today under significant stress:

13 million of us will worry intensely for at least 90 minutes.

It may be about our marriages, children, jobs, mortgages, health, grades, friends or a host of other issues.

Whatever the source, worry is an emotion we’re all familiar with and that many of us experience virtually on a daily basis.

We might say that worriers practice a sort of backward, upside down faith.

Worriers fear that tomorrow will be bad—that they won’t have what they need, or that something terrible is going to happen.

The ever wise Charlie Brown of Peanuts comic strip fame once quipped: “I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time.”

Yet James said in 4:4, “You do not know [the least thing] about what may happen tomorrow.”

Think about this: Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.  Is it as bad as you had feared?

Let me be clear: Jesus is not suggesting that we not plan ahead for things like education, our children, our retirement days, and so forth.

What He is telling us is to live in a daily dependence on God to take care of the needs of each day, and to tackle life’s problems one day at a time.

“Today’s trouble,” said Jesus, “is enough for today.”

In other words, don’t weigh down today with tomorrow’s troubles.

Jesus’ advice to live one day at a time is the key to deliverance from the thief of worry.

One day at a time is the winning philosophy for anyone that wants to enjoy life!

The Psalmist David wrote down the ideal advice on how to live one day at a time. You likely know the verse very well:

Ps. 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

First, he told us HOW TO VIEW each and every day:

This is the day the Lord has made

MADE means “appointed, granted, prepared.”

THINK ABOUT THAT! God has prepared your days, and appointed a purpose for each one!

The atheist says “Random chance made this day.”

The pessimist says, “It’s not going to be a good day.”

The weary person says, “Not another day!”

But the child of God says, “This is the day the Lord has made.”

The child of God sees each day as a gift from God in which he can accomplish three simple things:

Walk with Him: “If any man will come after Me,” Jesus said, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow me,” Luke 9:23.

Work for Him: “Make the very most of your days, seizing each opportunity for the Lord, for the days are evil (Eph. 5:16).

Worship Him: The Father seeks genuine worshippers, said Jesus.

No matter what happens, a day containing these 3 things is a day well-lived!

Not only did the Psalmist tell us how to VIEW each day, he also told us HOW TO RESPOND to each and every day:

I WILL rejoice and be glad

Notice—there’s an “I will” in there.

I will rejoice, and I will be glad…

You may not always live in perfect health, be rich, or have everything you ever wanted . . .

But it is God’s will for you to rejoice and be glad in all the days he has given you.

Joy is not dependent on a happening.

Joy bubbles up out of an obedient spirit that is clean and right before God.

And joy can also be put on like a coat by faith.

Sometimes we must, “Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving!”

It is easy to praise the Lord when ...

All the kids are healthy...

The Lord is blessing...

And the bills are paid...

But a “sacrifice of praise” is offered when...

A loved one is sick...

Or we feel abandoned by God...

Or our bills are mounting up.

Or a spouse has walked away.

That’s a SACRIFICE of praise!

That’s when we are saying, “I will rejoice; I will be glad.”

REJOICE and be GLAD

REJOICE is a heart word.

GLAD is a face word.

Put another way: If rejoicing is in your heart, gladness will be on your face!

The absence of gladness on the outside is a dead give-away that rejoicing is absent from the inside.

The great man of faith, George Mueller, once said that his first task each and every day was to get happy in the Lord!

Think about the word REJOICE...

It is a compound word from the word “joy.”

When “re” is placed in front of a word, it means “to do something again” as in re-peat, re-hearse, re-play…

The “re” in front of “joy” shows that we are to RE-CYCLE joy;

We are to do it again!

Then he used the word GLAD.

I have a challenge for you after you get home today…

Go stand in front of a mirror for five minutes and check out your “FACE VALUE.”

I’m not talking about whether you are pretty or ugly, handsome or homely.

I’m talking about whether anything on the inside of your life has made its way to the outside of your life.

Too many Christians go around with a pathetic religious look on their faces.

They have forgotten how to smile and how to laugh out loud.

You can’t tell if they have acid indigestion or a migraine headache!

They look like they’re on a liquid diet of castor oil and lemon juice.

I can hear some of you thinking, “But the reason I look that way is I’m not happy.”

LISTEN: Happiness depends on a happening.

But joy is a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22.

Joy is not about you mustering up a cheerful attitude and being phony.

Joy comes from surrendering yourself so fully that the genuine life of Jesus Christ IN YOU, works its way OUT OF YOU.

Happiness comes from a outer happening

But joy comes from inward abiding

SUMMARY:

If we VIEW each day as the day He has made and appointed

And RESPOND to each day with rejoicing and gladness

And INFLUENCE those around us with genuine spiritual life

We will discover that worry has vanished and peace reigns in our hearts.

This is the wisdom of living “one day at a time”.