“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
– Psalm 118:24 (NLT)

Somewhere today, champions are being built. While some wish to be great, others are putting in the work. Summer for most means no class, vacation, part-time jobs or just hanging out with friends. Slow down, relax, enjoy yourself. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, but for athletes and coaches who want to be champions, it means something entirely different. Early morning workouts in the weight room and on the field. Attending clinics to learn new techniques and strategies. Two-week vacations crammed into one week so everyone gets some time off. Champions are built when no one on the outside is looking. They are built when no bands are playing, no cheerleaders are cheering and no fans are in the seats. The results of last season have faded in the rear-view mirror and only today counts. One more set of stadium steps. One more route to build chemistry between the quarterback and receiver. One more word of encouragement to that athlete who you desperately need to be a leader. Today is all you have and you are going to squeeze everything you can out of it.

No matter how young or how old we are, no one really has more than the present moment. Today, right now, is what we have and we must decide what we want to do with it. We will never have it again. Too often we choose to live in the past wasting our valuable present. The past is the past and it’s gone. Let it go! Focus your energy and resources on the present. Use today to make yourself a better you. Use today to make a new friend or encourage an old one. Get rid of a bad habit and start a new one that improves your life. Stop wishing and start working. Stop doubting and start believing. Stop blaming and start encouraging. Stop putting things off and start doing. Start living the way God wants you to live—with richness, with purpose, with boundless energy and with unlimited love.

Father, thank you for this day. Help me to see that this very moment is a gift from you. I will be joyful and delight in it. Amen.