On Purpose

Do you do things on purpose or do you allow yourself to be carried along by the stream?

When we look at our days, we can throw up our hands and give up, saying that it’s out of control and there’s nothing we can do.

OR

When we look at our days, we can accept what is out of our control and take responsibility for the rest.

The catch is that we are responsible for how we use our time, whether we respond well or try to avoid that responsibility. The choice is ours to work diligently or not. The attitude we have is also our choice.

Think about this:
Being carried along by flowing water works great IF you want to go where it’s going. If you have another direction or endpoint in mind, the flow is working against you.

So do you know where you should go?

The danger in floating along without knowing the destination is that we may have an unpleasant surprise or disaster coming any minute.

If you have thought about where you are going and what it takes to get there, you are set up to handle the surprises that do come along the way. With purpose, you have reasons and guides for how you adjust. You can keep moving in the right direction, even if that involves a little detour.

  • You can love your neighbor with purposeful acts, or you can wish that an occasion comes up at a convenient time.
  • You can make time for priorities, or you can hope that they fit in somewhere.
  • You can set up an action plan for a responsibility, or you can assume that it will all work out somehow.
  • You can work to be kind with deliberate acts and words, or you can just want to be kind.

Why are you doing what you are doing today?

Dwelling Richly

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

Now there’s an idea to chew on. The word of Christ dwelling in me richly. How does that work?

First of all, the word of Christ is a gift we have. God has spoken. We can listen. Let’s not take that lightly. The Creator and Sustainer of life has revealed Himself to His creation. The God of all the earth has spoken to us. Wow!

Further, this word is of Christ. The Christ in Whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col. 1:19). He is what God has communicated. The One who is ALL, so richly described in Colossians 1. The One who is our Redeemer and made it possible for the word to dwell in any of us.

The word dwells in us. If we are in Christ and He in us, this is not something we occasionally glimpse. The word should be a real part of who we are. We feed on this word. We live by this word. We depend on this word — and not at a distance.

The word may dwell richly. That’s such a luxurious word. Do we have the word of Christ that way? Does it ooze from every pore into every part of our lives and actions? Are we fully engaged with the treasure?

What if we think of it this way?

You see the chocolate cake.
You smell the warm chocolate.
You know from experience how good it will taste.
It’s right there for the taking.

Have you picked up the fork and taken a bite? Did you savor that bite? Did you accept the whole bite with thankfulness? Was it a rich experience or just a hurried snatch? Is the cake now part of you or something you’ll get to when you have time…someday…maybe?

Most of us can start drooling at the thought of certain foods, but do we crave and engage with the word of Christ the same way?