'The Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.' Jonah 3:1 NIV

We spend too much of our lives in the junkyard of regret. We focus on what might have been, could have been and should have been. Maybe we think that by replaying it enough we can change the outcome. But we can’t. The only thing you can control is what you do in the present. The more you replay yesterday, the further you get from today’s opportunities. And the further you move from today’s opportunities, the tougher the road back becomes. Opportunities never look as good coming as they do going. And they wait for no one, so you need to be attentive and grab them. They come in many forms, and they can come from any direction. But one thing’s for certain: they can be seen and seized only in the present. Whatever has happened in your life, has happened. And since you can’t undo it no matter how hard you try, wipe the slate clean and go on to what’s next. We all make mistakes. Jonah’s mistake caused a storm that threatened the lives of everybody around him, and ended up taking him all the way to the bottom. But that’s not the end of his story: ‘From inside the fish Jonah prayed to…God…And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Then the Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.’ (Jonah 2:1;2:10–3:1 NIV) He’s a God of second chances—and third, fourth, and fifth ones too! ‘They are new every morning.’ (Lamentations 3:23 NIV) Today is a gift—that’s why it’s called ‘the present’. So repent of the past, seize the present and start living again!

SoulFood: Gen 13-16, Jn 13:18-30, Ps 114, Prov 31:1-5

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2014