For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. -James 4:14

I was having dinner with a successful business man a few days ago. It was great! I asked him a lot of questions about finance and investing, he gave me a lot of great insight, but one thing he said really made me think.

He said, “You know what’s your most important investment?” “What?” I responded. “Your time. You get 2,080 work hours a week (if you work 8 hours a day/5 days a week/52 weeks a year) to invest. How you invest that time determines everything.”

He said the best question I can continue to ask myself is, “Am I getting the most value I can out of the 2,080 hours I have this year?” That question will determine my success, the amount of money I earn, and how far I go in life.

As a result that conversation, I am going to laminate a card and carry it around in my pocket that says, “What am I doing with my 2,080 hours?” I want to maximize my time, potential, earnings, and my life. The only way to do that is to use the time we’ve been given with wisdom. More specifically the wisdom of God.

I’m going to be seeking God’s wisdom on the best use of my time. I suggest you do the same! He knows what the best use of our time will be!

What are you going to do with your 2,080 hours?

“When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey His commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built find homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplies along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself “I have achieved this wealth with my own strategy and energy. Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful.”

-Deut. 8:11-18

Deut. 8:11-19 is one of my favorite sections of scripture. It’s a constant reminder that everything I am and everything I have is a gift from God. He has been so good to me. If I have anything that is good in my life, if I’ve had any form of success, if I have been freed from bondage, it’s all because of Him. All I had to do was choose to respond to Him. He did the rest.

So, what do you do when life is awesome?

Thank God constantly. Never forget what He has done for you.

Failure to do so, will make you proud. It will make you dependent on yourself. Your heart will become hardened. You’ll start thinking you are the reason your life is awesome, when in reality, you’d have nothing without God.

Thanking God is one of the greatest things we can do with our lives. Whether we have just hit rock bottom or we are soaring on the mountain tops of life, we need to thank God. Thank God He is bringing us out of our current circumstance or thanking Him because He has brought us to an awesome place in our lives.

Thoughts?

I was looking through notes from Primal by Mark Batterson, and I came across these quotes about our dreams, our influence, and the impact we want to make from Phil Vischer, the creator of Veggie Tales. Just something I thought would be good for all of us to chew on today.

“If God gives you a dream, and the dream comes to life and God shows up in it, and then the dream dies, it may be that God wants to see what is more important to you – the dream or him.” -Phil Vischer

“The impact God’s planned for us doesn’t occur when we’re pursuing impact. It occurs when we’re pursuing God. At last, after a long lifetime of striving, God was enough. Not God and impact or God and ministry. Just God.”-Phil Vischer

“Everything minus God = Nothing” ~Mark Batterson

I don’t know about you, but often I find myself pursuing my dream instead of pursuing God. Maybe we’re not succeeding because we’re too focused on ourselves…

Thoughts?