What do you hafta do today? I’m sure you could make a short list of the things that have to get done , but what makes them so necessary? Maybe they are required by your employer, or you have to pay some bills that are due, but otherwise how do you determine what is most urgent in your life? Sometimes we set up meetings days or months ahead of time and it happens that today I am supposed to have that meeting. How many times each week do you have meetings canceled? If you are like me, it seems to happen fairly regularly, and then you say, ‘well I guess it wasn’t that important, was it?’ Maybe you have seen the priorities you or others have held change, if not significantly, at least a fair amount over the past few months. Some things you thought you had to do may have been canceled or postponed. So again, how do you determine what is most important to do today?
Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 145:2-3
You may have heard it said that if you found out that you only had a week to live, your priorities would change pretty quickly. What you had on the ‘to do’ list would get rearranged a little. Just yesterday, I had a late afternoon meeting with some others from our church and a missionary we have known for some time, who happened to be back in the area. He recently lost his wife after an extended battle with cancer, and so now is trying to decide what he is doing next after getting to retirement age and losing his partner of many decades. When talk to friends and hear of people going through difficult times, it makes you stop and re-consider what you think is really important today. We all probably need to stop and do this on a regular basis, at least I know I do.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. Galatians 5:16-17
Besides what you hafta do today, what shouldya do? Maybe you have a whole list of things you would like to accomplish every morning, and you know you won’t make it through them all, but hopefully some. Maybe some of those tasks or projects have been on that list for months if not years, but something keeps you from taking steps in that direction. Maybe you do now have all the information you need, or the courage to have a difficult conversation with someone, but you know it needs to get done. I’ve often said, if I don’t get it done today, I’ll have to do it eventually, so better sooner than later. We all have a tendency to put off difficult decisions or tasks, but if you are like me, you learn you eventually have to get the job done, or pay someone to do it. Besides the list of things you should do, there are probably things you know you shouldn’t do, but sometimes find yourself doing. So, the challenge not about knowing, but more in doing what we should or should not do each day.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Romans 7:15
Besides what we hafta, should, and shouldn’t do, what do you wanna do today? If you had 4 uninterrupted hours without any other obligations, what would you really like to do? For some of us, it is the things we have to do, so we don’t have to worry about them anymore. For some, it is some of the things on the ‘I should do this list’ because it will be beneficial to us or others in the long run. For some, its things on the ‘I shouldn’t do this’ list, because they may be selfish indulgences that we know are really detrimental to us and to others. Yet, there are probably things that you want/like to do that you rarely make time for anymore. For me, it is sitting down and reading a book, or watching a movie, or just going for a run or walk without having to be back at a certain time. It may be taking extra time to sit and read the Word, without having to hurry through it to get on to the next thing. It may be calling up a friend you haven’t talked to in a long time and just sharing a little about your lives. A lot of these things that bring you joy, can also bring joy to others and even to God, as he is glorified in your life. So, even if for a few minutes, between the things you must get done today, schedule in some time to do something you enjoy and just breathe a little. Being thankful about things brings much more enjoyment of them as well. May you even find some joy and enjoyment in those things you hafta do.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34
Yours in Christ,
Clark
