Max Lucado - Make Every Day Count

Make
Every Day
Count

Make
Every Day
Count

previously published as
Every Day Deserves a Chance

MAX LUCADO

2007, 2012 by Max Lucado

Previously published as Every Day Deserves a Chance: Teen Edition.

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Italics in Scripture indicate the authors emphasis.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked CEV are taken from the CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION. 1991 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked GODS WORD are taken from GODS WORD. 1995 Gods Word to the Nations Bible. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group. Scripture quotations marked ICB are taken from the INTERNATIONAL CHILDRENS BIBLE. 1986, 1988, 1999, 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked JB are taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE. 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and Doubleday & Company, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NCV are taken from New Century Version. 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked PHILLIPS are taken from J. B. Phillips: THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH, Revised Edition. J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible. 1946, 1952, 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible. 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked WEY are taken from the Weymouth Bible.

ISBN 978-1-4003-1822-3 (2012 edition)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lucado, Max.
[Every day deserves a chance]
Make every day count / Max Lucado.
p. cm.
Previously published as Every day deserves a chance: teen edition--T.p. verso.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4003-1822-3 (pbk.)
1. Christian teenagers--Religious life. I. Title.
BV4531.3.L8 2012
248.83--dc23
2011030001

Printed in the United States of America
12 13 14 15 RRD 6 5 4 3 1

For Steve and Annie Millett
thanking God for the way you bring
life to San Antonio youth.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 10 Grace for Guilty Days

Great thanks to these folks who poured their skill and hard work into this book:

Karen Hill, Laura Minchew, Amy Parker, Rhonda Hogan, John McPherson, Kay Meadows, Julie White, Kevin Harvey, Shana Bell, Shannon Whitehead, Rob Birkhead, Michelle Prater Burke, and Jennifer Barrow.

CHAPTER 1
Make Every Day Count

This is going to be a great day! I thought, sitting on the beach listening to the waves and feeling the warm sun. I took a deep breath, leaned back in the beach chair, and closed my eyes.

Thats when a bird chose my chest for target practice. No warning. No sirens. No, Bombs away! Just plop.

I looked up just in time to see a seagull giving high feathers to his bird buddies on the branch. Yuck. I poured water on my shirt three times. I moved to a chair away from the trees. I did all I could to regain the magic of the morning, but I couldnt get my mind off the bird flyby.

It should have been easy. Waves still rolled. Clouds still floated. The ocean lost no blue; the sand lost no white. Palm trees still swayed, and wind still whispered. But I couldnt quit thinking about the seagull grenade.

Stupid bird.

Birds have a way of messing things up, dont they? Count on it: into every day a bird will plop.

Parents will argue.

Teachers will correct.

Bullies will taunt.

Friends will forget.

And lines. Oh, the lines. Missed goal lines, flubbed play lines, long lines, deadlines...

Each day brings with it disappointments and demands.

And what about those days of double shadows? Those days when hope is blasted by crisis? Days of hospitals and wheelchairs, sickness and sorrow. You wake up in the same scary neighborhood or abusive household. The failing report card is still folded in your pocket, the head of the dinner table still empty, the cemetery dirt still fresh. Who has a good day on these days?

Most dont... but waitcouldnt we try? Doesnt even the worst of days deserve an opportunity? A shot. A tryout. An audition. A swing at the plate. Doesnt every day deserve a chance to count for something?

After all, this is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24 NKJV). The first word in the verse leaves us scratching our heads. This is the day the LORD has made? Perhaps holidays are the days the Lord has made. Saturdays are the days the Lord has made. Easter Sundays... birthdays... vacation days these are the days the Lord has made. But this is the day?

This is the day includes every day. Breakup days, final exam days, moving days, being grounded days. Sending-your-firstborn-off-to-college days.

This is the day includes every day.

That last one sucked the starch out of my shirt. Surprisingly so. We packed Jennas stuff, loaded up her car, and left life as wed known it for eighteen years. A chapter was closing. One less plate on the table, voice in the house, and child beneath the roof. The day was necessary. The day was planned. But the day undid me.

I was a mess. I drove away from the gas station with the nozzle still in my tank, yanking the hose right off the pump. Got lost in a one-intersection town. We drove; I moped. We unpacked; I swallowed throat lumps. We filled the dorm room; I plotted to kidnap my own daughter and take her home where she belongs. Did someone store my chest in dry ice? Then I saw the verse. Some angel had tacked it to a dormitory bulletin board.

This is the day the LORD has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

I stopped, stared, and let the words sink in. God made this day, ordained this hard hour, designed the details of this wrenching moment. He isnt on holiday. He still holds the conductors baton, sits in the cockpit, and occupies the universes only throne. Each day emerges from Gods drawing room. Including this one.