Don't Waste Your Life!

2008 seemed to pass by so quickly and another new year is just beginning. I have found, if I am not careful, I can allow time to slip by too quickly, and when I look back, I am dissappointed, feeling like I have wasted this precious time!

Have you made New Year’s Resolutions yet? Sometimes I make Resolutions with the best intentions, but all too quickly they are forgotten.

Resolutions seem to be important to all of us. As I have talked to women, a common desire has resonated- to find out and fulfill her "purpose." Nobody wants her life to be a waste! Most people want to leave a fingerprint on the world, to make a difference, to have an impact on others’ lives. We want to our lives to be special.

Have you ever wondered what God wants to do with YOUR life? What His purpose is for your life? Does He have a plan?

Yes, God does have a plan for our lives!

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord.
“Plans for hope and a future. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.”

So, how do I live out these plans, WITHOUT wasting precious time?

Paul writes in Ephesians, “Be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.” PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT BEING DELIBERATE AT LIVING OUR LIVES- PAYING ATTENTION, ON PURPOSE KIND OF LIVING.

Be careful how you live. Here, the Greek literally means, “don’t stumble through life.” Do you ever find yourself “stumbling through life?” Does life ever seem to fly by so quickly that you find yourself saying, like me, “Where did 2008 go?!”

I saw a billboard once that said, “Time flies, but you are the pilot.” I loved that. That is what Paul is saying here. You are the pilot, and fly carefully! “Be careful how you live … and try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

Do you know what the Lord wants you to do? Have you ever thought about it? Maybe you’re thinking, “I didn’t know the Lord wanted me to do anything!”

What is the first thing God wants us to do? He wants us to hunger for Him! More than service or obedience, or anything, God wants us to seek after Him in an intimate, real, living, breathing relationship with Him. Jesus said the greatest commandment was "to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, and all of your strength. Then, love your neighbor as yourself.” You see, sometimes we get confused and we have a religion, but we don’t have a relationship with the One who so desires us.

“What else does God want from MY life?”

He wants it ALL.

Jesus wants a relationship with Him, AND He wants ALL of us. He wants us to make HIM our FIRST passion. God wants our wholehearted devotion, and He wants our whole life ..our whole life, not just part of it, not jut on Sunday mornings, ALL of it! Romans 6:13 says, “Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your WHOLE BODY as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.”

Give ourselves completely, completely to God- every part of our lives in total surrender to Him. So often, we only allow God into the “spiritual” part of our lives. We go to church on Sundays. We have our “quiet times.” We even are reading through the Bible.

But, God wants so much more than that- He wants it all- my whole life. Not just the areas that I think are “OK” to give to Him, the “churchy things, GOING TO CHURCH, GOING TO LADIES BIBLE STUDY, RETREATS, SERVING IN THE CHURCH, NOT JUST THOSE THINGS, but every area, my marriage, my relationship with my kids, my home, my friends, my work, my free time. He wants every thought, every decision, every choice to be surrendered to Him, totally making Him Lord of my life!

One of my favorite books is the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. He say, “There isn’t a single verse in the Bible that says you can be a Christian and live your life any old way you want. God wants all of you- not 10%, not 50%, or 99%. He wants all of you. It’s either all or nothing. It’s either true, and that should determine the rest of our lives, OR, we should just chuck it all and go and do whatever we want to do.”

So, for me, this year, 2009, I purpose to NOT waste my life! I intend to slow down and make God my first priority. I want to get lost in my relationship with Him. I want to spend time at His feet, filling up on Him. I want to give Him everything....

"Time flies." But, I am the pilot.

Questions to Ponder:

1. What are your New Year's Resolutions? How does your relationship with your Savior fit into them?

2. How can you "slow down", piloting your time this year?

Father God, I love You! Thank You, God, that You give us "second chances" every morning! Each day we have a new opportunity to begin again, like a new year. Help us to give You every part of us this year and forever. Help us to give You every part of lives, even areas we don't like to surrender. May Your blessings fall down on us this New Year. Praise You, God. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

Many blessings to you and your family this New Year,

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