You may be thinking you don’t create anything but I wanted to know, do we pay attention to the difference between when we consume something and create something? I listened to an album by Chris Tomlin this morning on the way to work, but I didn’t create an album. I also consumed a message by Rusty during our Tuesday men’s meeting, breakfast, read several blog posts, and bought something at Best Buy (none of which I created).
If you say initially, no, I don’t or haven’t created anything, I would ask then, have you taken a photo, written a blog post, spoken at a conference or meeting, or given birth to an idea? Creating can be like paying taxes. You go throughout your day and once the day is over, you don’t even realize how many times you paid taxes throughout the day. Every time we buy something, download something, eat, fill up our gas tanks, use electricity, we pay taxes, so like wise, we create in various ways throughout the day too.
This country in particular is all about consuming, but what are we consuming compared to what are we producing that others will consume? Most of our consumables today are in the form of mass produced items made in China (thanks Biscuet), but that is not all we consume. Most of those are physical products, products “where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19). So is creating something what we I should be more focused on, right? Depends.
As with everything, we need a balance, but what if all we did was consume? Can we live by only consuming in one area, like information? What if that information was God’s word? Of course, the idea is how often do we consume God’s word. Where is the balance, and when do we need to take what we have consumed of God’s word and start creating? Do we create from consuming God’s word? Absolutely.
Just ask your worship leader or pastor. Part of their job is directly converting the consumption into a creation. For most of us, we have to consume more. Drink in the Word like a Coke or cup of coffee and have it become a part of us until we have the ability to grow the coffee beans, ship them to a manufacturer, grind them up, sell them, and brew the coffee without ever thinking about what steps it took to get from point A to point B.
This is one of the things I am trying desperately trying to focus on this year. I am amazed at how hard that is to do when working inside the walls of the church. Initially, I was thinking, ok, now I can be immersed in God’s word all day since I am working in “ministry” or at the “church”. Oh course I knew this wasn’t going to be the case but I have found it no easier to go deep into God’s word and consume Him now, than I did before I walked into the building with a staff label instead of a attender label.
So I am telling myself to consume more, but can you really have one without the other?
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This text below was something that my mother in-law kept and was special to her and I felt it was appropriate for today and every day. It is nice to have a small reminder like this of who Christ is, the Great Comforter.
I kept the context exactly as it was, including the caps, those are not mine, but how the piece was written.
A man may go to heaven without health, without wealth, without fame, without a great name, without learning, without culture, without friends, without ten thousand other things. But he can never go to heaven without Christ.
It is not what we EAT
but what we DIGEST
that makes us strong;
not what we GAIN
but what we SAVE
that makes us rich;
not what we READ
but what we REMEMBER
that makes us learned;
and not what we PROFESS
but what we PRACTICE
that makes us Christians.God does not COMFORT us to make us COMFORTABLE, but to make us COMFORTERS.
I had never read this before today but it was something she kept and laminated. Something good to remember where ever we are in life. Have you ever noticed how many names Jesus actually has been called. I did a name study one time and it is truly amazing.
One of those names is surely the Comforter, but he also calls on us to do the same.
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What if you were told you would be given $86,400 at the start of each day. Wow, great huh. You can spend that amount each day, but at the end of the day, what ever you haven’t spent you loose.
You can’t keep any to spend it the next day, you can’t save it, you can’t invest it for later use, you can only spend it today. You get 24 hours to spend $86,400. The good news is, for now, at the start of each day you will be given another $86,400 and then it starts all over again, but, no matter what you do, that is all you get.
Are you thinking about all those things you would buy or places you might go, but, opppps, you actually don’t have time to use the entire amount, or do you? Well it doesn’t really matter because one way or the other it is either going to be spent, or time will spend it for you.
So, where would you spend it?
86,400. That is how many seconds we are given each day. We don’t get any more, and at the end of the day, anything we haven’t used we loose. The next day we get another 86,400 seconds to use at our discretion, but that’s it. You can’t invest it (at least here on earth), you can’t save it, and for now, we get a new 86,400 seconds tomorrow to use. So…….. where do you spend it?
I haven’t had a lot of time to blog here lately for various reasons but it got me started thinking about what steals our time. My wife always says we have time for what we make time for, and I think that is basically true. We prioritize throughout the day even if we don’t realize we are doing it, and it controls what we get accomplished or what gets left for “tomorrow”.
I have several projects going on at the same time, including developing my first true CMS site for a niche market, and that is what is taking a lot of my free time as of late, but I think there are several things that steal our time throughout the day. Some are our own doing, some we can’t control, some we can. I made a quick list of what steals my time as of this writing, in regards to this blog. Steals your time probably isn’t the best way to describe it. A better way it where do we spend our 86,400 seconds we are given each day?
Other Blogs
I do write on other blogs and trying to keep up with each one doesn’t always work. The one that gets the most attention is the one that has the highest priority at the time.
Work or Projects
Yes, I guess we all do have to work at something. This may be a necessity but it does take up a majority of our time (as it should) and it usually takes priority over non-revenue generating projects
Family (and Friends)
This is another good thing, but also one that keeps me from blogging on this blog. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I had planned to have a quiet week and get a good weeks worth of articles written for this blog. What did I do, I spent most of it working outside on our property with my dad. Worth far more to me than getting the articles done I had in mind. I also ate a little turkey and watched a lot of football.
Not Being Well Organized
This is something we can control but being well organized will keep things running smoothly. I started keeping a log book of things I needed to get done or have done. It sits on my desk right by my computer and I jot things down on it all day. When I travel, I have a miniature version I take with me. It does help me stay a little organized.
This is a big one for most of us. I have read 100 blog posts on how you should not check your email every 5 minutes, and it is probably true, but I just can’t do it. I usually spend a good majority of my time each day in email or having something to do with email.
Your Feed Reader
This is probably one of the areas you could spend a ton of time looking at, and writing this blog, I hope you do, but I try to read my feeds at night after the day’s work is complete. This doesn’t always work, but there are so many great articles to read that it can take a huge amount of time.
Watching TV or Other Entertainment
We all watch TV or do some form of entertainment. I am a big sports fan and I can always find a game to watch. Even if there isn’t a game on, ESPN Classics is probably re-playing some great rivalry game from 1982. I don’t usually spend to much time on these items, but they can take up time that you don’t spend doing more productive things (unless you can figure out a way to do both at the same time).
Internet Social Sites, Groups, News, General Surfing
Don’t think I even need to elaborate here. Just try to do the most productive things each day in the order of priority. If you make your living on the social networks, great, if not, look at these areas when you are finished with your work each day.
Where Do You Spend Your 86,400 Seconds Each Day?
So, those are just a few. What areas use up time each day for you? I think each of us can probably look at some areas where we could probably spend our time more wisely, I know I can. Leave a comment below and let me know what those are for you?
