Don't Waste Your Life!

As some of you would know I have been a leader in a book club discussion the book: "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper.

I also have friends that speak wisdom occasionally. - Especially if they are male and I say the word advice.

Anyway between reading Piper, and talking to some friends... well maybe brothers in Christ fits better, but whatever the creatures were, I talked to them. *ahem* between reading Piper and talking to them I had a few things to think about while waiting in the airport for two hours and on planes three weeks ago.

And think I did. I have one life. Only one. I don't know how long that life is, but I do know that I said it belongs to God. What I do with my time now is what I am spending the one life I have to give on. Is what I am spending my life on worth it in eternity?

The more I thought about it the more I realised, "If I don't want to waste my life I need to be brutal with everything in it. If it does not bring God glory, if it is not edifying me and building me up in my walk with Him, then it should be removed immediately."

"Wow! Isn't that a bit drastic?" I have heard.

I suppose it is a bit "extreme" but really, Jesus said if your eye causes you to sin pluck it out. He wasn't joking if you haven't noticed... What ever is not leading you closer to God is drawing you away from Him - directly or indirectly. If we want to live in such a way that our short time on earth will not leave us regrets for the rest of eternity, than we need to live every moment of our lives for Him.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you can't ever have a break, or take a holiday, and you should be a miserable Christian that never does anything happy or fun. I'm on holidays at the moment. When I was in Townsville, I commented to someone about it, and they looked at me sideways, but I went on to point out that I was greatly blessed and edified because I had been able to relax I had gotten in a lot more time than I usually do to pray uninterrupted. I felt like I was close to heaven. (And no it wasn't the sun, pool, and ice cream that did that even though some of you may beg to differ with me on that.) It was the presence of God that surrounded me and made me to be at perfect peace. But things in the physical allowing me to draw near without distracting or interrupting made it very easy to do so.

So here is my challenge to you: Get rid of anything - absolutely anything (relationships, games, thoughts, habits, etc.) that is not leading you closer to God. It might hurt a little bit now, but you will reap the rewards if you are willing to pay the price now.