‘I have finished the work You gave Me.’ John 17:4 GNT
Unfinished business drains your energy without you even realising it. William James said, ‘There is nothing so fatiguing as an uncompleted task.’ And the internet has made the problem worse, because now you get more ‘messages’ in one day than you used to get in a month. When you don’t focus on something, you don’t finish it. So you end up frustrated, feeling like ‘nothing is getting done’. If you don’t take control of your time, the most forceful people and most urgent situations in your life will. Before Christ picked His twelve disciples or calmed the storm on Galilee, He spent all night in prayer. ‘He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.’
(John 6:15 NKJV) Note the word ‘again’. Jesus regularly retreated from the pressures of the crowd in order to determine His priorities. Mac Anderson says: ‘Something magical happens when we accept personal responsibility for our behaviour and results. But it’s not easy…it’s human nature to “pass the buck”. As I’ve become older (and wiser), when things go wrong…I can always find the culprit…in the mirror. In every instance it comes back to choices I’ve made that put me exactly where I am today. Adopting an attitude of personal accountability means you’ve more control over your destiny…you become a contributor instead of a passive observer…others look to you for leadership…you gain a reputation as a problem solver…You experience the satisfaction that comes from getting things done…there’s less anger, frustration and helplessness, which in turn leads to better physical health…There’s a positive spillover into your personal and spiritual life. Sometimes winning isn’t about finishing first, it’s about finishing—full stop!’
SoulFood: Est 1-4, Jn 20:19-31, Ps 105:8-22, Ecc 7:1-4
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2014
