Sometimes during my week I look forward to Friday—that is the day that I try to take off from work. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does I am excited to be home with my family to relax and enjoy them. During some exceptionally busy weeks, when I am tired and it’s been kind of crazy, I solace myself with the thought that “Friday’s coming”. However, I have discovered that if I am not careful, that kind of thinking can become a trap. In too many instances we divide our time into two categories: living and waiting to live.
Too often we spend our time in transit: waiting to have fun, waiting for the vacation, waiting for things to get better, worrying about things that may never happen, or spending too much time being angry over things that did happen. The problem with this kind of living is that it is a waste of the precious time that God has given us right now.
You don’t have to wait for Friday to get here to enjoy your family; you can do that today. We all need to learn to enjoy each minute, to make the most of each encounter with one another, and to stop thinking about how much better things might be tomorrow. Rather than seeing Monday and Tuesday as the necessary steps to getting to the end of the week; look at them for what they are: opportunities to live life today.
When you go home tonight don’t just rush through it; slow down and talk with your kids, play a game, do something simple and fun. You don’t have to wait for a vacation to do that. Instead of hoping things will be better tomorrow, make them better today by adjusting your attitude and finding reason to be happy now. What is the point of waiting for the promise of treasures tomorrow when God has made each day with riches of its own?
A day is not something we simply need to get through; a day is something we get to do. Don’t waste too much of your life in transit, take the next exit and enjoy the people and places of today. When we wait to live life passes us by, and some things (and some people) are just too important to let pass by on the highway of transit.
