One day! Twenty four hours! One thousand four hundred and forty minutes! Each time we change the status the number gets larger and larger. Each time we try to explain it we become more frustrated. We say; give me a minute and I'll be there! Or we say; I'll be ready in a minute! Mmmmm; perhaps we need to rethink the calculation.
Give me a day and I can begin to make things right. Give me a day and I can wash my hands and ask the Lord to give me a clean heart through forgiveness. Give me those 24 hours and I can do the same things; just watch me use those 1440 minutes to share Jesus Christ as I walk through my daily routine. We will have the same amount of time in a day as we do 24 hours or even with 1440 minutes. Time is relative! It is how we use it that makes a difference.
A man born in 1892 in Italy moved to Brooklyn in 1905. Changed his name to Charles Atlas and became a famous body builder. It is said that he worked hard to develop his physique through success and losses until he discovered exercising muscle against muscle and it changed his life. He developed his bodybuilding method that many of our prominent body builders today emulate. His company; Charles Atlas Ltd is still in business and is said to use the following advertisement. "I turned myself from a 97 lb weakling into the worlds most perfectly developed man. And I can change your body too." Charles Atlas proclaimed he did it, one day at a time!
One day at a time is all we need to bring ouselves out of the depths of despair and into freedom. Dieting is a one day at a time process. Starting and stopping doesn't bring success, but day after day brings the achievement we are looking for. The medical profession offers pills or patches to help control and stop smoking. Counseling and proper diet will help you to curtail or stop excessive drinking habits. All of these help, require one day at a time! Going to the gym and eating right gives you the proper balance to enhance your metabolism and give you a healthier life style. Starting and stopping will not help you to reach your goal, but one day at a time will.
I heard someone say that it was easy to quit smoking because he had done it a thousand times. I understand! I have found it easy to diet, because I have done it at least that many times. I like the feeling of being in control though; don't you? When you are in control you can call the shots. You can decide what, where and when you are going to eat. You can choose to not smoke anymore or when you take that last drink and it is your last, it is your choice. I love and admire that kind of control. I have met many who have quit some of these habits, cold turkey.
"But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own will and has decided this in his own heart, he will do well." 1 Corinthians 7:37 I realize this is talking about waiting to consummate your marriage before you are married. I content that if you can exercise control in one area of your life you can have control period. I am still learning this and I imagine you are too, but God says we can do all things and these things are in His will.
"For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all." 1 Corinthians 5:14a As Christians we want to be in control of our carnal nature. We want to do what is right with our bodies and our lives. Paul struggled with the desires of his carnal nature. He said; "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Romans 7:15 "Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells with me." Romans 7:20 How can we get control? "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Colossians 3:2-3 What a difference a few minutes with God can make! Give God every day and you will see complete transformation. By Jane Ann Crenshaw 12/29/09
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