Making Everyday A Good Day

This is a wonderful time of year. I always get excited at the prospect of visiting with family, eating great meals, getting out of town for a few days, and of course giving and receiving gifts. But as exciting and happy as this time of year is for some, it is equally discouraging and depressing for others. Not everyone has family to visit with. Not everyone will have a feast to eat. Not everyone has the ability and means to leave town and “get away from it all.” Not everyone has the ability to purchase a gift for another, and some of the same ones will not receive a gift.

While this time of year offers reasons for some to rejoice and others to weep, I want to take a minute to share with you some ideas that will help make for today and every day a good day. You might even consider writing these suggestions down and putting them in an accessible place; and, when your day leaves something to be desired, pull them out and see what you can do to make the day better.

Be upbeat and positive about life.
Paul said on one occasion, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). If anyone could/should rise above the negativity that exists in the world today, it ought to be the Christian. Do you want to know what makes a Christian happy?

1. Having children makes Christians happy. “Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them” (Psa. 127:4,5).
2. The ability to work makes Christians happy. “For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee” (Psa. 128:2).
3. Being obedient to God makes Christians happy. “He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he” (Pro. 16:20).
4. Practicing compassion makes Christians happy. “He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he” (Pro. 14:21).
5. Learning to help others makes Christians happy. “If ye know these things [how to be a servant], happy are ye if ye do them” (Jn. 13:17).

Be flexible when facing obstacles.
Christians need to learn how to bounce back when difficulties and challenges arise. I really like how one person put it: “When you can’t direct the winds, adjust the sails.” In Donald McCullough’s, “The Pitfalls of Positive Thinking,” He said the following:

• Alexander the Great conquered Persia, but broke down and wept because his troops were too exhausted to push on to India.
• Hugo Grotius, the father of modern international law, said at the last, “I have accomplished nothing worthwhile in my life.”
• John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the U.S.—not a Lincoln, perhaps, but a decent leader—wrote in his diary: “My life has been spent in vain and idle aspirations, and in ceaseless rejected prayers that something would be the result of my existence beneficial to my species.”
• Robert Louis Stevenson wrote words that continue to delight and enrich our lives, and yet what did he write for his epitaph? “Here lies one who meant well, who tried a little, and failed much.”
• Cecil Rhodes opened up Africa and established an empire, but what were his dying words? “So little done, so much to do.”

While sometimes to our feeble minds it seems that life is not worth the living, remember that Jesus said he came to make it worthwhile (Jn. 10:10).

Be upright in all the decisions you make.
Whether it comes to business practices that are out in the open, or decisions made in the privacy of your own home, practice purity. The Bible teaches us to hate evil and hold on to good; to avoid appearances of evil and be holy as Jesus is holy (Rm. 12:9; 1 Pt. 1:16).

Be sure to pray each and every day.
The psalmist observes that truly happy people are those who frequently come into the presence of the Lord. “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasure for evermore” (Psa. 16:11). One of the ways we enter God’s presence is when we approach Him in prayer.

In William Barclay’s, Prodigals and Those Who Love, he said that when we pray remember:

The love of God that wants the best for us.
The wisdom of God that knows what is best for us.
The power of God that can accomplish it.

Great things happen when we pray! Only prayerful people will be able to enjoy life. Paul explained it well when he said, “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:16-17).

Be diligent to prioritize your life.
In a 1992 issue of Our Daily Bread, someone calculated how a typical lifespan of seventy years is lived. What they came up with is the following:

Sleep................23 years..….......32.9%
Work.................16 years...........22.8%
TV....................8 years.....….....11.4%
Eating................6 years.......…....8.6%
Travel................6 years..........….8.6%
Leisure.............4.5 years..........…6.5%
Illness...............4 years.........…....5.7%
Dressing..............2 years..........…2.8%
Religion............0.5 years.........….0.7%
Total................70 years..........…..100%

How interesting! On average, an individual who lives to be seventy years of age only spends about .7% of his or her life engaged in the religious. Question: how close are you to the average?

Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.