LIVE INTENTIONALLY – 1

I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; and there it was, all overgrown with thorns; its surface was covered with nettles; its stone wall was broken down. Proverbs 24:30-31

REFERENCE
Proverbs 24:30-34

Often, we unconsciously slide into the mode of, “What will be, will be.” God will do what He would do in my life.” We surrender to life and expect things to just sort themselves out; we resign ourselves to events around us and expect a miracle of perfection. Not always so! The bible, 31 times, describes what our response to life’s events should be; “Take heed!” In other words, ‘be in charge.’

We are a generation of Christians who equate wishful thinking to faith, we say we expect miracles, but what we want is magic, we use prophecies to excuse laziness and dodge life’s simple principles using spirituality. We look for the spectacular and ignore the practical.

However, in life, nothing just happens! If you see something working, someone somewhere is working. Nothing works until we work it. We need to come to a point where we decide that our lives will not just be a product of chance, or trial and error. Instead, we must each say to ourselves, “If it has to be, then it is up to me.” We must come to a place of living intentionally. To be intentional is to do something on purpose, to be deliberate about something.

The man described in our text perhaps was expecting some miracle to happen to the field he neglected. But, wishing for things to change without making an effort will not make them change. He must have learnt a hard lesson when his field began to produce thorns and nettles.

His field shows us the result of anything left to itself (marriage, career, gifts, business, children, ministry, etc.), it gets overgrown with weeds and it breaks down. Thus, if you want a life better than you currently have, be intentional in planning it, praying it and working it. Be a participator in leading your life. You must move from desiring to doing and from wanting to working – be deliberate.

Our daily habits, choices, decisions and actions ultimately determine the outcomes and outlook of our lives. To live intentionally, every day matters, since each day is a part of a week, each week, part of a month, each month, part of a year and each year part of your life. So, living intentionally really begins by taking charge of each day and living it to the full.

Be intentional about your life in order to come into alignment with destiny. Tomorrow we will look at some vital areas to be intentional about which will lead to a successful life.

PHOTO QUOTE

ADDITIONAL STUDY
Joshua 17:14-18, Proverbs 13:14 & James 2:20-26

REFLECTION
What improvements would you like to see in your life in the nearest future? What will you do about it?