Is What You’re Doing the Best Use of Your Life?

By Rick Warren

“Be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise. Live wisely. I mean that you should use every chance you have for doing good, because these are evil times. So do not be foolish with your lives. But learn what the Lord wants you to do” (Ephesians 5:15-17 ICB).

If you want to make an impact with your life, you’ve got to do one thing: Get control of your time. Your time is your life. If you don’t learn to manage your time, you’ll limit the legacy of your life.

Ephesians 5:15-17 says, “Be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise. Live wisely. I mean that you should use every chance you have for doing good, because these are evil times. So do not be foolish with your lives. But learn what the Lord wants you to do” (ICB).

We all have the same amount of time every week: 168 hours. It’s what you do with it that counts! You’ve only been allotted a certain number of days in this world, and if you waste them, you’ve blown it! If you waste time, you’re wasting your life. Your time is your life. You have to stop and ask, “Is this the best use of my time? Is this the best use of my life?”

You don’t have time for everything. The good news is that God doesn’t expect you to do everything. So don’t feel guilty about it! There are only a few things worth doing in the first place.

Effective people figure out what’s essential in life and what’s trivial, and they spend more time doing the essential things and less time doing the trivial things. You can’t eliminate all the trivia in your life, but you can reduce it.

This sounds easy, but frankly it’s often difficult to choose between what’s best for your life and what’s easiest for your life—especially when you’re tired. When you’re tired you don’t want to do the best thing. You want to do what’s easy. That’s why if you’re really going to make something of your life, you have to learn to get some rest. If you’re not rested, you won’t have the mental, emotional, and physical strength to say, “I’m going to do the right thing instead of the easiest thing.”

Don’t waste your life. Don’t settle for second best. Don’t go through life just existing. You were not created to just coast. God made you for a mission and a purpose. That starts by asking, “Is what I’m doing the best use of my life?”

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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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