After we’ve been a Christian for a while, it is easy to get in a rut. Our work and personal lives tend to get more complicated and more distractions come our way. After a while, it seems we are spending a lot of time just putting out fires and trying to cope with life on a daily basis. Our Bible reading and prayer life starts to slide without our realizing it and we find ourselves trying to cope with life through our own wisdom and ingenuity. That’s when things can snowball and life can really end up a mess.

When you realize this is happening in your own life and life seems to have more questions than answers, that’s when you need to step back and take a good look at what you are doing. How are you trying to handle everyday life with all it’s tasks and responsibilities? This is especially important in our high tech world with all its gadgets and distractions. We find ourselves overwhelmed with things we feel need to be done with little time to do them. That is when you need to start trying to simplify your life again. Step back for a while and re-evaluate things. Do you really need to answer all those emails and phone calls? Are all those tasks you think you need to do really that important?

Someone once wrote a little booklet entitled, “The Tyranny of the Urgent”. The author’s premise was that many times we have things which seem urgent to do, yet in reality, they are unimportant. We need to sort through things and do what is really important, not just what seems urgent at the time.

One of the best ways to get rid of the unimportant and get our priorities straight is simply to set aside a little time each day to read and meditate on scripture. If you do this over a period of time, I think you will find a lot of things will fall into place where they should be. You will be able to sift through you responsibilities easier and eliminate those things which really don’t have to be done.

Get Back to Basics

You have to decide what is really important in your life. There are several steps you can take to simplify your life and do what is really necessary without wasting a lot of time doing the unimportant. Here are several steps you can take.

1. Reading the Bible and meditating on it on a regular basis has a way of automatically washing the clutter out of your mind.
2. Praying on a regular basis will help calm you mind and help you focus on what is really essential.
3. Witnessing, passing out tracts, or in some way ministering to and helping others is the main purpose to which God called you. No matter what occupation God has called you to, He wants you in this field for certain reasons which have to do with your spiritual development and ministry to others. This is your primary purpose in life…not just making money to pay the bills. Once you realize your job is just the means to this end, your work life will take on a different dimension.

Take Time to Analyze

Take some time over the next few days, to have a good look at your daily life. Try to identify the areas which are important and which are unimportant. Start practicing the above three steps and in a short time, I think you will see a major difference not only in what you accomplish, but also in your attitude toward your life in general. These three steps are the basis for building a solid Christian lifestyle and accomplishing what God has for you to do.

 

Christ Fellowship Baptist Church