“I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” Perhaps you’ve heard that line, or even uttered it yourself. Or maybe you’ve heard it with different phrasing. Something like, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian.” That statement is incorrect! In fact, I’ve never heard an active church member make that statement. It usually comes from someone trying to justify their neglect of church.
If you are still reading, allow me to make a distinction and explain what I mean.
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I planted a garden this year. Even though I am 53 years old, I still like to play in the dirt. I like to cultivate things. It’s not a large garden by any means, but it’s mine.
All of us try to grow something in our lives. For some, it’s our financial standing. They do everything with a view for how it will make more money for them.
Others grow popularity. They want to know and be known by the right people. They want other people to know who they are.
Many people try to cultivate possessions. They want the best house, car, clothes, or any other objects that the world values. Their life is a massive pursuit of more, better, and new.
You can probably think of a lot of other things that people you know try to grow in their lives.
I have read the verse countless times in my life. But when I read and studied Psalm 37:3 the other day, I saw something new for me.
Edward Young famously wrote, “Procrastination is the thief of time.” Every moment we waste in procrastination is a moment we can never retrieve. It is time lost forever. I believe that procrastination is the leading cause of most people never realizing their potential.
Most of the time, we put off doing things that would most benefit us. We continue to short-change ourselves by putting off those things that we know really are good for us – things like beginning a personal Bible study and prayer time, eating a more healthy diet, exercise, tithing, or any number of other beneficial life disciplines. The devil uses procrastination to keep us ineffective by tempting us to put off those things that will make us stronger and move us closer to the Lord.
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March Madness has begun. Most college basketball teams are playing in their conference tournaments determining which teams will move on to the national “dance” – The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. College basketball is a big deal…and even bigger deal in March. All of the “hoop”-la to win that big ol’ trophy.
No NCAA Championship team began the season without a vision of how they would win enough regular season games, win the conference championship, and win their way through the national tourney to be crowned champions. No championship is won accidentally; champions win on purpose. No team just shows up to play, tosses the ball around, and plays to “make the best” of each game as it comes. Champions work hard for their championship, and they play a full season with (here comes my word again)…intentionality. From the opening practice until the buzzer of the final game they work hard with a singular goal: win the trophy.
Sadly many believers drift through life without a game plan for a successful spiritual journey. Consider the sense of purpose Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Corinthian church:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
“So run,” he says. “I do not run aimlessly,” he testifies. “I discipline my body,” he demonstrates. Purpose. Intentionality. Vision.
What is your game plan? What are you doing to win in the important areas of your life? Your spiritual development? Your marriage? Your relationship with your kids? Other important facets of you life? What is the game plan?
Let me encourage you to answer four questions for yourself today.
Ask God to give you honest insight into your own life and ask Him to give you wisdom and strength to make the necessary changes to begin living intentionally in those areas. Run to win. Run with purpose. Run with self-control.
Whether in our Christian development, our marriage, our relationship with our kids, our jobs, or any other facet of life, we live in one of two ways. Either we react to things as they come or we proactively live with intention in these important life areas. We either respond to what life throws at us, or we approach life with purpose and intention. Consider a lesson from a Bible hero named Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.
But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs… Daniel 1:8-9
When faced with a decision to capitulate and conform to others around him, Daniel “resolved” to maintain his character. The word translated into the singular word “resolved” is actually a Hebrew phrase literally rendered “set his heart.” Some translations render the phrase “purpose.” I like that.
Daniel would be challenged by the threat of the lions’ den and his three friends by the threat of a fiery furnace. All four at their moments of decision resolutely chose character over capitulation. Why? Not because they took a moment to pray about and weight the pros and cons, but because they had made the decision long ago – well before the pressure moment. They had a plan; they lived INTENTIONALLY.
Intentional living worked out really well for Daniel. He went from the lions’ den to Vice-Emperor. His three friends found favor among their leaders and rose to positions of responsibility in the kingdom. They did it not by chance or luck, but by intentionality in the Hand of God’s providence.
How are you living the most important accounts in your life? Do you have an intentional plan to grow spiritually? To enhance your marriage? To lead your children? To use your job and other activities for God’s glory? Or…do you just leave it all up to chance, trying to “keep the plates spinning,” “tread water,” “take it one day at a time as life comes,” or any number of other reaction-centered clichés? Things do not improve accidentally. You can’t wait on someone else to do “their part.” You must choose to take the necessary steps to live intentionally.
Here is my challenge to you for today.
Choose 1 thing you will begin doing immediately and intentionally…
That’s a pretty good start right there. Do it… INTENTIONALLY.
“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” – Jedi Yoda
Monday marked a unique occurrence in our keeping of time; it was Leap Day. Many people do not realize that we have the extra day because our standard calendar only accounts for 365 of the 365¼ days the Earth revolves around the sun. So to even things out, we tack on a day at the end of the already shortest month.
In reality, our calendars present an illusion of time to us. Cosmologically speaking, we do not actually have an “extra day.” Similarly, we celebrate the New Year on January 1st when in reality that day on any given year is nothing more than the day that followed the day before it. We reset our calendars, and make resolutions to live the next 365 days (or in this year’s case, the next 366) differently; seemingly “better.”
Our measurement of time within our days can also be illusory as well. In 13 days we will begin a standard of time measurement we call “Daylight Saving Time.” (Pet peeve alert: the word “saving” is not meant to be plural. It is not Daylight Savings time, as in a Savings account). I once heard a prominent Atlanta radio personality explain that we observe DST so that we can give the farmers an extra hour of daylight. Apparently, he never worked on a farm. Farm work is pre-dawn to post-dusk regardless of where the hands on the clock are positioned.
As we think about the supposed “extra day” we were given, let me present a question for your consideration.
For the most part, did you SPEND the day or INVEST the day?
All of this “extra day” and “extra hour” talk has stoked the burden in my heart for intentional living. Life is precious. At any moment any of our lives could be snuffed out. I choose not to live in fear of my life suddenly and unexpectedly ending, but I do, however, choose to live what days I have with purpose, meaning, and intentionality.
Consider the wise words of Moses and Paul:
So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12
…making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. – Ephesians 5:16
Not just on leap day and not just during DST, but EVERY DAY and in EVERY SEASON, are you living with intentionality toward the things that matter for eternity? Do you devote your heart to spending time with God? Do you invest the best of yourself in your family? Are you building your life out of the proverbial gold, silver, and precious stones that will withstand eternity’s testing fire?
Or… are you living your life as a consumer? Spending your time and energy making money to accumulate more of Earth’s transient offerings? Do you spend your days (frustratingly so) trying to make things come out to suit you, go your way, or benefit you?
I challenge you today to take a fresh look at your priorities, aspirations, and ambitions. Even if you achieve all you are seeking here on Earth, what will be of it when you are gone? The most important investment of time and resources are in those priorities that matter for eternity.
Do you live with intentionality and purpose, or is your life drifting from day to day as handle what comes your way? Choose to live intentionally.
A little confessional blog today, with an invite to join me on this stretch of “the long way home.”
For most of my life, I have prided myself on the ability to “wing it,” “flying by the seat of my pants,” as they say. (OK, enough of the metaphors!) An honest assessment of the last several years of my life, however, reveals that I have begun to overlook too much, waste too much time, forget things I need to remember, and give less than my best efforts at some important things that should get the best of my attention and energy. I have come to the conclusion that I have allowed my life to drift and that I spend more time reacting to what happens around me than proactively charting a course of life stewardship.
The Old Testament sacrificial system placed great emphasis on the quality of the sacrifice being placed on the altar as well as the sincerity of the heart of the one offering it. A genuine worshipper would not bring just any sacrifice to place on the altar. The quality of the sacrifice reflected the depth of the devotion in the heart of that worshiper. I want my life to reflect a sincere heart and a pure sacrifice.
So… I am getting my life in order.
I am committing to live more intentional than ever.
I will live by God’s priorities,
I will master my schedule,
I will take care of my body, soul, and mind.
Giving more attention to the details of life will not come easily for me, and I have no intentions of becoming obsessive-compulsive about life; BUT, with God’s help
I want to order my priorities properly,
I want to invest my time productively, and
I want to live out my days passionately pursuing what really matters for eternity.
More on my quest for intentionality next time. For now, I encourage you to take stock of your life. Are you drifting from day to day, trying to manage what happens? Or do you have a sense of what God wants from you and are you living by His design for your life? Interestingly, knowing that the time of his death was drawing near, Paul had this assessment of his life:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. – 2 Timothy 4:7
Notice the definite articles. He fought not just any good fight, but THE good fight. He finished not just any race, but THE race. He did not just keep faith; he kept THE faith. Intentionality. The things that really mattered. Paul was not reactive, but proactive. He had a sense of what God wanted from him, and he pursued that passionately.
What about you? In what areas of your life are you adrift? In which parts of your life do you need design and order that only God can give?
A plan is a wonderful thing. We plan events and trips. Ball teams execute a game plan. Builders meticulously follow a building plan. If you want to lose weight, you follow a dietary plan and most likely an exercise plan. We do not expect important things to happen by accident, so we develop and carry out what we believe to be an effective plan to reach our goals. Why do we not apply the same fervor to our spiritual growth? Why do we expect spiritual growth to happen by accident? The Bible definitely doesn’t.
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness… – 1 Timothy 4:7
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. – Hebrews 5:12-14
“Train yourself.” “Constant practice.” These are not words that indicate something happening by accident. Spiritual maturity takes place over time as a person intentionally seeks God in the pages of His Word, then faithfully practices the lessons learned.
What is your plan for Bible reading? What verses are you planning to memorize? What topic are you planning to investigate? What Bible character do you plan to analyze and whose example you plan to follow?
How much time do you plan to spend in prayer each day this week? When will you pray? Where? How?
In what ways do you plan to stretch your faith and serve outside of your comfort zone this year? What about a new ministry, mission trip or a service project?
How do you plan to grow in your financial stewardship?
If you want to grow, don’t expect it to happen automatically or accidentally. Develop and follow a plan to grow.
I want to start off this week with a challenge to my readers to regularly and intentionally read and study God’s Word with the goal of allowing it to transform us into Jesus’ image. Consider the following verse fragment and its implications for our Bible study practice.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… Colossians 3:16a
“Let” – meaningful Biblical engagement must be an INTENTIONAL activity. For God’s Word to affect our lives, we must have a plan to regularly expose ourselves to Biblical teaching. The verb tense of this sentence is an imperative, a command. To be obedient children of our heavenly Father, we will read His Word. To neglect His Word is disobedience.
“word of Christ” – ALL Scripture, Old and New Testaments, is inspired by God, but for today’s believer, I recommend a steady diet of reading in the Gospels where we find the body of Jesus’ teaching and the lessons from His earthly ministry. I see an alarming number of Old Testament passages taken out of their original context and “claimed” by people to who they were not given as “promises” they were never intended to make. The Old Testament stands as a contextual background to help us understand the New Testament, but the New Testament embodies the instructions for believers in this age.
“dwell in you” – All to often, when we do read God’s Word, we read it, close our Bible, then move on without stopping to consider its meaning and its specific application for our life. Remember, Hebrews 4:12 teaches us that the Bible is alive. To all it to “dwell” in us is to allow it to remain in our thoughts, consideration, and ultimately in intour behavior. We call this meditation. We spend thoughtful time considering what God is saying through His Word and what He is saying particularly to us. The Word then continues to dwell in us when we obey it and make what we learn from it a part of the regular practice of our lives.
So…will you make an intentional plan to feed on God’s Word on a daily basis? Will you intentionally seek the truth of God’s Word, ponder it deeply, and apply it courageously? Will you get serious about God’s Word and let it DWELL in your life?
