Here’s my hope & prayer for you all, may your “One day...” soon become your “Day one!” Think about it in imagery like this, using the mathematical symbol for greater than: One day < Day one.
In other words, we say to ourselves, “One day, I will ______.” meaning we either plan to start a new endeavor, or we want to cease some behavior, and it’s always “one day I will...” But nothing feels better though than when we stop saying “one day” and we get to that “day one,” that first day when we actually move from dreaming about it to doing that which we know is better/greater.
There are a lot of people, and churches as well, who spend a lot of time in Never-never land, imagining, daydreaming, pretending that the future will somehow magically bring about an improvement for them without any effort, simply just because given enough time “it” will come about. They might not be stuck in the past wishing for a return of the golden days, but they aren’t grounded in reality either.
The future is always more promising than the dull reality of today’s dirty dishes that need washing or an empty fridge that needs filling. Why do you think “endtimes” ministries remain ever so trendy? It’s popular to obsess over the supposed rapture and tribulation, and perennially ask what conflict will eventually usher in Armageddon -- i.e., beware of China and Russia’s alignment as allies or watch out for a One World Government.... Less popular is, “take up your cross and die to yourself -- daily.”
Day one is better than “one day.” We say, “One day, I will pray more, reconnect with God, find a good church family, start tithing, read my Bible, invite so and so to church, etc. etc.” And it seems no matter our good intentions, we never come around to initiate a start. I’ve joked for years that the keyword to dieting is “Tomorrow,” so yes, the same principle is at work here for health and dietary practices. It could be called goal setting, lifestyle, improved habits, but we all know it’s really just called change, and change is hard.
Change will always be hard. Anyone who tells you differently is selling snake-oil. Remember though, hard is not synonymous with impossible.
There is probably no greater blessing, nor is there any better feeling than when our “one day” actually happens and we experience our day one, that first day on the path of healing, righteousness, holiness and goodness. That day when we finally treat our spouses and children right, when we become a good neighbor, a better employee/employer, when we break bad habits that harm us and others, and we choose to live life as God intended. How on earth do we ever get there?
I know for years I personally hesitated to become a Christian, because I thought I could never live up to the perfection I assumed was required. And guess what, I was right, I haven’t. If we wait for perfection, if that’s our standard, we probably will always live with the “one day” attitude. Perfection isn’t the goal we ought to set, we simply need to take the first step on that journey of a thousand miles and many other steps will fall into place.
Instead of allowing all of our obstacles, reasons why it can’t work, deadlines/timelines, and other imagined problems to overshadow our vision of a better day, look past those hindrances and focus on what is possible now-today, and not by your own strength alone or by trying it alone, but what steps are within your grasp today? You might not be able to pay off your credit card today, but you can shred it right now.
You don’t need anyone’s permission, you don’t need a sign from the heavens, you don’t need a crisis or a boon, you have everything you need already to start and God has everything you need to complete whatever good work He has in mind for you. Again, may your one day soon become your day one -- maybe even starting today.
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