The iconic comic strip “Peanuts” is full of great insights. One strip shows Charlie Brown and Snoopy sitting at the end of a pier. Charlie says, “We only live once, Snoopy.” Snoopy responds, “Wrong! We only die once. We live every day!” Smart dog.
Charles Schulz, the creator of “Peanuts,” found that a strip about children let him explore adult anxieties, loneliness, faith, failure, and philosophy through a deceptively simple, low-stakes format. Characters like Charlie Brown carried much of his own self-doubt and disappointments, and the strip became a vehicle for him to process those feelings while remaining funny and accessible to a mass newspaper audience. He certainly hit the mark with this one.
All too many people go through life lamenting the days they have left, rather than embracing the day they have. Tragically, instead of seeing each day as a gift, they see it as one more off the list of their sum. No doubt, our days this side of eternity are numbered. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Therefore, we ought to cherish our today and live it well.
Probably the most quoted verse for living in the moment and greeting each day is Psalm 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Here is a simple yet profound call to greet each day with joy rather than let it pass unnoticed. This is a good prayer to offer any morning.
But before we treat this verse as a simple morning mantra, it’s worth asking what “day” the psalmist actually meant. The psalmist acknowledges that each day was “made” by our Creator God. But the reference is to a specific day of God’s dramatic deliverance, coming right after the declaration that the rejected stone has become the cornerstone. As the climactic verse of the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113–118), sung at Passover and other festivals, it marks the post-exilic triumph of national rescue and temple restoration. The New Testament applies it messianically to Jesus’ rejection, exaltation, and resurrection, making “the day” the moment of ultimate salvation.
You may say, “Well, wait. If this is not about every day, but a specific day, why am I suggesting it is a good prayer to start them all?” Because the “day” salvation was made available to all who receive Christ does not just change the believer’s destiny as they head into an unforeseeable future, but also each day they get to walk with the Lord on this blue planet.
The day Christ made salvation available reaches into every ordinary moment of the Christ-follower’s life. The finished work of Christ allows each day to begin not under the weight of condemnation but under the covering of grace. Sins past, present, and future have already been dealt with, so the believer can walk in the freedom of forgiveness rather than in the fear of judgment. The same cross that purchased eternal life also supplies daily strength through the indwelling Spirit, turning routine tasks into opportunities for worship, ordinary relationships into places of Christlike love, and even suffering into a means of sharing in His sufferings and knowing His comfort. In light of what Jesus accomplished once for all, the Christian lives each day with grateful dependence, quiet confidence, and an unshakable hope that the life now lived is no longer merely their own but Christ living in them (Galatians 2:20).
Yes, if Christ doesn’t return before then, we will all one day die. We don’t like to talk about death, but it will come. Yet Jesus has conquered death and offered us life ever after; His presence, His power, His guidance, for each day leading up to that glorious one. Snoopy had it right: we only die once. We live every day. Today is one of them. Truth be told, everyone will die, but only some choose to truly live. Rejoice. Be glad in it. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!