By Danny Minton

“Yesterday is gone forever. Tomorrow never comes. Today is in my hands.
If I shirk today’s task, I shall be adding to my wasted yesterdays.
If I postpone today’s duty, I shall be increasing tomorrow’s burden.
If I accomplish what today sets before me, I shall be doing my best to atone for yesterday’s failures and to prepare for tomorrow’s successes.
Therefore, I will endeavor to use my time and opportunities that TODAY shall leave me a little wiser and abler than it found me.” (Author Unknown)

Shortly, we will enter a new year, and with it, people all around the country will be making their “New Year’s Resolutions.” Some of us will sit down and make a list of everything we want to accomplish in 2026. Many will be old standards; lose weight, exercise more, read my Bible from beginning to end, downsize our possessions, or get out of debt. 

Most people will abandon their aggressive goals within a few weeks, while others may make it through a few months before getting lost in other projects. I can only think of one “resolution” I made that I still carry out decades later. It’s nothing earth-shattering and had very little to do with changing my life, but it did show me I could succeed if I put my mind to it. 

Most of us may be one of the types of people in the little poem above. We may be the type of person who keeps putting off things that need to be done until they form a hill almost too high to climb. Others may give up and stop trying because it’s too much of a burden.

I read the story of a man who was struggling financially and needed a job. A friend of his in a major city wrote him a letter telling him to move up where he was living. “Things are so well here, money is just falling off trees.” The man decided to take his friend up on it and got on a bus to the city. Once he arrived, he got off the bus and was walking through the park on the way to his friend’s. Along the way, he looked down and saw a $20 bill lying under a tree. He stared at it and said, “Humph, I’m not going to work my first day here, I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

Jesus gives us an example of the importance of looking at today and seizing opportunities, since time may be short. “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” John 9:4-6 (NASB)

We have no idea what tomorrow may bring. Today may be the only opportunity we have to change ourselves or influence those around us. Many people we meet today, we may never see again. What impression will we leave behind? Opportunities to do good today for someone may not be there tomorrow. Once today is gone, it is gone forever. As a result, we may leave behind opportunities to be Jesus or add to the burdens of life tomorrow. 

Okay, I told you there was one resolution that I have kept over the decades, so I’ll let you know what it was. It was trivial and non-earth-shattering. I’m a coffee drinker and used to use sugar and cream in my coffee. I decided to eliminate the two additives. It took six months, but now I can’t stand coffee with them. 

Many of us, when trying to change our lives for the better, look far beyond today. I read of a man whose goal was to lose weight by walking. He was out of shape but wanted to build up to walking several miles a day. He set his goal to walk around the neighborhood. On the first day, he walked a block and back home. The next day, he walked a block and to the next mailbox and back home. Each day, he added a mailbox. It was only a few extra feet each day, but eventually he reached his walking goal.

If you make resolutions this year, along with those long-range plans, make little ones that you can keep along the way. Whatever you want to change in your life, give yourself guideposts along the way. 

One noble goal would be to be like Jesus, working on one trait each month of the year. Patience for one month, kindness to others the next month, helping others the next month, and so on. Whatever you do, do it today.

Danny Minton, a member of Southern Hills Church of Christ, is a hospital chaplain