Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16
I have been heavily convicted by the above verse in regard to the way I spend my time. I often lay in bed at night and think “what did I even do today?” Our minutes become our hours, our hours become our days, our days become our years, and our years become our lives. God has given each of us 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 52 weeks in a year, and he determines how many years we have. The days are short because eternity is…well, eternal. I want to spend my minutes, hours, and days making the best use of the time God has given me before He calls me home. After evaluating my life and where my minutes go, I narrowed down two areas I want to spend less time in, and two areas I want to devote more time to:
What I Want Less Of:
Sleep
I am a great sleeper. I can sleep anywhere, and at anytime. I can sleep the whole night on the floor, for 3 hours in the car, on my lunch break in the middle of the day, in a room full of people playing games or watching TV, and I crash the second my head hits the pillow at night. I prioritize early bedtimes to get a full 8-9 hours in a night, or 10 if I get lucky. I looooooove my sleep, but I have recently been convicted that sleep is an idol for me. I forfeit time with God (and showering) in the mornings to get an extra 30 minutes of sleep before work. Sleep is often an escape too; if I am anxious or stressed out, sleeping usually does the trick to temporarily get rid of it. So, I am deciding to lessen the amount of time I sleep. It is worth it to get up an hour or two earlier than normal to meet with God or some girls. It is also worth it to stay up an hour later than I’m used to if it means I get the opportunity to connect with people more. Since the days are evil, I don’t want to spend 35-40% of my life unconscious. There’s too much work to be done.
Social Media
I spent the past 2 weeks off social media, and after breaking the habit of checking it multiple times an hour, I didn’t miss it at all. I forgot that people were posting selfies, political opinions, and what they had for lunch. My life went on without an hourly update from my 1,000+ facebook friends. I got back on two days ago, caught up on a few events coming up (and a few that I had missed, oops), accepted some friend requests, shared an upcoming event I wanted to invite people to, then decided to get off again for a few weeks. I believe social media is a tool, and can be a very useful tool, but for me, it had become more of a consuming distraction. I want to get in the habit of logging in for a few minutes once a week, or every other week, then spending the rest of my time in real life with real people.
What I Want More Of:
Discipleship
Thanks to the influence of some amazing, God fearing women in my life, I have been learning a lot about what it looks like to be discipled, and to make disciples. Discipleship is something that I believe most Christians have a sincere desire to do, but a foggy understanding on how to go about doing it (myself included). I have been reading and thinking a lot about the life of Jesus and how He made disciples. I want to take the Great Commission Jesus leaves in Matthew 28 seriously. I have made a few shaky attempts in that direction, asking for women a few steps ahead of me to disciple me, and to turn around and do the same for women a few steps behind. I really believe one of the greatest legacies women can leave is to disciple those in their community around them, and I want to be wholeheartedly devoted to that.
The Bible
Although I have been a Christian for 17 years, I still feel like I have an elementary understanding of the Bible. Reading and understanding the Bible does not come naturally for me. I connect to God best through prayer; I can spend hours praying for myself, other people, and all the opportunities all around me, but it is harder for me to dig deep into the Word. I get intimidated by what I do not know, my lack of understanding, or theology that is seemingly contradictory. I have a surface level knowledge of many biblical ideas, but I want to take personal initiative to go deep, to know God more intimately through His Word, to study, and to embrace the tension of what I do not yet know.
That’s it. It seems simple, but I believe counting every minute as precious, cutting down on time wasters, filling up on the good stuff that actually matters, and asking God to help me make the best use of the time He has entrusted to me will radically shift the way I live my life; not casually meandering my way to the coffin, but intentionally living my short years here with eternity in mind.
Oh, and there’s one more thing I want more of. Ice cream. And chocolate. And all the desserts. Life is too short to count calories and deprive the taste buds. Eat up.
This picture was taken the same day I had a temporary lapse in my character and decided to go Paleo. After a Paleo approved breakfast and lunch, I called it quits and devoured this ice cream cone, and had Mexican food for dinner. I have not once looked back or regretted that decision.
Until next time,
Katie
Above All Else 