PRESENTATION: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW

Begin by reading Psalm 118:24. “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”

We can only live in the now of today and rejoice in it. That is the reality of living, but there are two days in the week that can prevent us from living today to the fullest. One is yesterday, with its regrets, and the other is tomorrow, with its fears and worries. These can rob us of the chance to enjoy today to the fullest.

Share from your own personal experience how your today was ruined by the regrets of yesterday and/or the fear of tomorrow. Perhaps you made a mistake, missed an opportunity (school, sports, party, and so forth), or treated someone badly (friend, family, date and so forth). And because of this mistake or failure, you found it hard to forgive yourself. It was difficult to focus on the present because all you could think about was the past situation. You lost confidence in yourself. Share how all of this affected your attitude and behavior and appreciation of the now of today.

Now share about how the worry about what might happen tomorrow can cause us to miss the beauty of today. We might be anxious about a test in school, and we become so obsessed with worry that we are unable to concentrate as we approach studying the material. We might be so wrapped up in facing an awkward situation or problem tomorrow that we are too distracted to enjoy the situation or people we are with right now. For both of these examples make it personal, and include enough information and feelings so that listeners can related. It may be most effective to use examples from this very week, if it is at all possible.

Yesterday and tomorrow can and should be used in a positive way to make your today better. Yesterday’s mistakes can help us to grow and mature by teaching us how to handle things better the next time. The trick is to learn from our mistakes. Share how you have learned from such a mistake and used the experience to improve. Or suggest how you might have better used the experience to do so.

Worrying about tomorrow is useless and destructive, yet constructive planning can help us face what tomorrow may bring. Share how this has worked for you in the past, or suggest how you could have done this in your previous sharing. Share how you were able to concretely plan how you would act, or how were able to put the fear in its proper perspective. This may have been done either by turning to prayer or imagining the very worst possibility and recognizing that the world will do on and you will survive.

End by sharing your appreciation of the beauty of today. Share how you savor and enjoy your very life, your senses and the beauty you have experienced in nature today, your family and friends, good health, your faith, God’s love. Make it a litany of thanksgiving for all the greatness of today and color it with you own appreciation and zest for today.

Discussion Questions:

1. How did regrets about yesterday or fears about tomorrow destroy your appreciation of today, this week?

2. Share how you have been able to make better use of today by learning from a mistake of yesterday or planning for a task of tomorrow.

3. How would you describe your today to Jesus?