Time for a Gut Check

I’m sitting down to write a post. To be honest, it’s not because I want to write a post.

In fact, I guess you could say I’m not “feeling it” right now, but I made a commitment to publish a post every Friday.

So here I sit, fighting my inertia, because I believe I ought to stay true to my commitment.

It reminds me of a quote of one of my favorite people, John Paul II.

Like most things in life, it’s in the doing the thing that you ought to do — even when you’re not “feeling it” — that will make all the difference in the end.

This also follows a half day of weeding my garden. (I know what you are thinking. I really know how to have a good time, don’t I?)

Weeding was another thing that I didn’t want to do today — but I knew that I ought to do it — and so I did.

The weeds were literally taking over my garden, and I knew that if I didn’t take that time, that none of my plants would have the room they needed to breathe and thrive in my little garden.

All my initial efforts would have been in vain, and so I got down into the dirt and weeded that little garden of mine, trusting that the investment of time would ensure a better harvest for myself and my family.

You know, six hours in a garden is a great time to think. There isn’t much else to do but think when you’re kneeling in mud and your task seems overwhelming.

It got me thinking about all those darn weeds I was struggling to pluck out of the dirt. They serve as a great analogy for life.

Weeds grow up quickly, without any effort on our part, and they are absolutely worthless — less than worthless, really, because they require our attention so the good things around them can thrive.

How many things that come easily to us do we actually value in life? Very few.

Part of the value of vegetables and flowers is in the effort necessary to bring them to fruition.

A beautiful garden is something to be proud of. It shows real effort and time and attention.

It is not something everybody can achieve, and it is not something that everybody is willing to put the time into in order to achieve it.

But those weeds. They require zero effort and every gardener dreads their appearance in the midst of their plants of value.

Anything of value in this life takes real effort, and perhaps it is in the effort that we begin to realize those things that we truly value.

If you aren’t willing to sacrifice to bring a bountiful harvest, then it must not really be that important to you in the first place.

And that’s okay. Not everybody needs to have a garden, or even to want a garden.

But the point still remains, wherever your treasure is, there also will your time be spent.

I have a really interesting dare for you. Draw a pie graph that is an honest delineation of where you spend your time most days.

Guys, it’s time for a gut check. Where are you spending your time?

Be honest with yourself and you will discover a few things that you may not have wanted to discover. Those places where you are putting most of your time and effort — that is where you treasure is.

Yikes!

Let’s take it a step further, if your Jesus piece of the pie isn’t as big as your Netflix or Instagram or Facebook pieces of the pie — then I hate to have to inform you that, Jesus is not your treasure.

In fact, where you spend your time has a direct correlation to where you have placed your treasure.

If you are freaking out right now, let me help to ease your mind just a bit.

There are many things we do each day that we can legitimately say we are also doing for Jesus, and they don’t include prayer. They involve loving the people around us.

Jesus is relying upon us to love the people around us. We are His hands and feet and arms, so don’t forget that.

Prayer should definitely be a part of that Jesus piece of pie, but so would things like changing diapers, making meals for your family, reading a book to your little ones, or working hard to pay the bills — it’s all about intention really.

That being said, I dare you to make a little pie chart of how you spend your day and ask yourself if that’s the pie chart you want to present to Jesus on the last day of your life.

Because one day, we will have to make an account of our days and weeks and years.

What if, every day, you lived like it was your last day? How would that change the way you used your time?

In Catholic spirituality, there is the common practice of an examination of conscience at the end of each day.

What if every day, you made a quick examination of conscience and examined how you spent your day?

What if you thanked God for the good choices and apologized for the bad ones and asked Him for the strength to do better tomorrow?

Eventually all those examinations would help you begin to choose the better portion with your day.

To be clear, some leisure should be a part of every day — real, honest to goodness life-giving leisure. You shouldn’t feel guilty about taking a break each and every day.

True leisure will give you a renewed enthusiasm and energy for the “work of your day.

More importantly, well chosen leisure will actually give you a renewed enthusiasm and energy for loving the people around you, so don’t forget to make time for life-giving leisure in your day.

That being said, if you discover the majority of your day is spent on mindless, selfish pursuits, then frankly you are wasting your life away on a bunch of weeds that will have no value in the end.

Invest time in the real harvest, in loving God and the people around you.

Invest it in sharing the gospel and in living the Gospel, because one day, you will face God and you will have to look over your entire life and make an account for how you chose to spend your time.

So let’s not squander the freedom that we have been given in our society. Let’s do something with that freedom. Let’s leave our little piece of the world better because we live in it.

Besides, living for only ourselves can never lead to true happiness.

You want to know the quickest path to misery: focus on yourself all day long — and guaranteed you will look back on your life with nothing but bitter regret.

So let’s love big and dare to be great and live our lives for others.

True freedom and happiness comes in loving the people around us and in living our lives with a courage and bravery to do the hard thing, even when we’d rather not.

Don’t waste your days on selfish pursuits that will only leave you more empty inside.

So choose well and begin to live a life that you can be proud of, a life that you can present to Jesus and hear Him say the words, “well done, good and faithful friend, now enter into the joy of my kingdom”.

To a life lived for God and others…..hip, hip, hooray!

Sharing over at Kelly’s