Most of my life, I operate with a checklist. I’ve got lists of things I want to do, and lists of things I have to do. I put these lists together to make sure I don’t forget the things I need to get done. And I often gauge the success of my day by how many items I’m able to check off my list. The bigger the item is, or the longer it has been on my list – the more gratified I am. My sense of achievement and accomplishment is often wrapped up in just how much and what I can check off of my list.
The problem with this way of doing things is what I don’t put on my list. As I look at my lists, the things I put on there are almost never things that really matter. I don’t put things on my list like, “spend time with my kids,” “go see my Dad,” “tell Ann I love her,” and “worship the Lord.” Sure, these things that occupy my time and attention are things that need to get done. I need to pay my bills, get the inspection done on my car, and mow the lawn. But the thing I need to most be reminded of is that the most important things in life may never get put on a list – but they’re still the most important things in life.
I – we – need to make sure we never allow the most urgent things in life to replace the most important. Being part of God’s praise and His plan is the most important thing we’ll ever do.
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2 comments:
I've experimented before with actually putting some of the truly important things on my to-do list. It's at least a reminder that they are priorities, and there is some sense of satisfaction in checking them off at the end of the day and realizing I did get some worthwhile things done.
As an addendum, this Sunday someone handed me a small pad of pre-printed paper with the word "Accomplishments" at the top. The idea is rather than writing out what you need to do, you should write out what you've done.
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