How Then We Ought to Live

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity. (Romans 12.1 Phillips)

Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived. (1 John 2.6 MSG)

Time. 24/7. A precious commodity. When we learn to pay attention to the little time we really have, it helps us to be wise about the things and people we spend time with.

Teach us to number each of our days so that we may grow in wisdom. (Psalms 90:12 GWORD)

Life is just a minute—only sixty seconds in it.

Forced upon you—can't refuse it.

Didn't seek it—didn't choose it.

But it's up to you to use it.

You must suffer if you lose it.

Give an account if you abuse it.

Just a tiny, little minute,

But eternity is in it!

(By Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays)

Look at your calendar; examine what you are spending your time doing. Do the hours spent reflect your priorities?

Some things can’t change: you can’t decide to not work because it isn’t your priority over your family. What you can do, however, is to be sure that your priorities are lived out apart from work.

Too many people are not living out their priorities. You cannot say you put God and His Word first and only spend one hour a week at Church. If you say God is first, and your relationship with the Lord is first, your calendar cannot give no time at all to spending in the Word, in prayer, and in Church activities that matter for eternity.

That is why the Lord demands the first fruits of your day. Jesus Himself spent time daily in prayer, how much more we need to. Without prayer the hand of God does not move. I don’t want to leave things to chance that the Lord can intervene in if someone is praying! Especially in raising children!

If you rarely spend time in Bible study, prayer, and doing things for the Lord and His people, this imbalance will yield a harvest in the of your children, and the time for the Lord and in His Word and time for Church activities will be pushed aside to the next level that you even did it. 

If you want Jesus Christ to rule in your lives and homes, He wants first place there. How have you given Him first place in your homes?

If you want your spouse to be number 2 in your life, PRIORITIZE them on your calendar and with TIME.

If you want your family to be number 3 in your life, make FAMILY a priority with TIME investments. That means to NOT live like you are divorced with the husband taking the kids so the wife can have a “break” and vice versa; but it means spending time as a FAMILY with mother and father and children together by choice.  The more you practice this the more you will train your children to make it a joyous thing. The less you practice this the more difficult it is to have family time.

Sadly, too many people prioritize people, events, and things on their calendars that will not even matter in 10 years. Many people are given priority that won’t even be in your lives in 10 years while your children and spouse are left unattended. Too many other things are given priority so that your family time looks more like a split custody situation than a family.

This week look at your calendar and be sure you are living out your priorities!