Several weeks ago I shared about our summer trip to Greece and how we experienced a new and slower way of living. Since that time, I’ve read a couple of books that seem to confirm the idea of living not only at a slower pace, but also in a more purposeful manner. I believe that Jesus actually modeled this exact way of living while He was on earth. Read any one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) and you can’t help but see Jesus taking His time, stopping and fully engaging with who and what were right in front of Him . 

Jesus’ entire life on earth was  lived with purpose. From a young age, He knew he was called to go about His Father’s business. Everything He said and did had purpose from the calling of the disciples, to His Sermon on the mount, and every parable He told. Everywhere He went had a purpose and He invited others to join Him. He didn’t live a hurried life,  but a slow and purposeful one. One where, He stopped along the way to heal, to bless and to teach. Oh how I wish I could walk along with Jesus today! 

My goal is to live on purpose, not by accident. Fully engaging in life, so that I don’t miss out on what Jesus has for me. To be clear, I do NOT have this figured out in my life. Far from it actually, but I have been challenged and I am trying to change my habits and thinking. 

What would it look like if we actually tried to live on purpose? Purposefully slow down. Purposefully engage. Purposefully look and listen. What if we put our phones down, took them out of our pockets even, whatever it takes to fully be present. What if we actually took the trips, instead of talking and dreaming about them. Or talked to the neighbor instead of just waving each morning. What if we scheduled the coffee date, said no to the additional practice or activity, turned off the TV and played a game. What if we went outside and enjoyed God’s creation!  What if our generation prayed boldly and asked God to help us break the cycle of being busy for the sake of being busy! 

Exodus 20:8 says “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”. This is an overlooked gift from God, an invitation to slow down and rest! And it’s part of purposeful living. I get what I’m suggesting is hard! We’ve lived busy most of our adult lives. We have jobs, ministries, school events, etc.. We don’t want our kids to miss out, so we say yes when perhaps we should say no. It’s early August, most schools have not yet started, but walk into any grocery store, craft store, etc. and you will find not only fall/Halloween decorations and food but also Christmas! Our culture perpetuates rushing ahead and living busy lives. They want us to think we are missing out if we don’t run along, trying to keep up with everyone else. But what if by constantly trying to keep up – we are actually missing out? What if by trying to capture every single thing we or our families do for social media – we are actually missing out on the actual event or experience?! 

I want to challenge you in joining me and start living on purpose. Start small by picking just one thing to do and fully engaging. It might be stopping by a co-workers desk, looking them in the eye and saying “tell me about your weekend” and then taking the time to listen and ask questions. It might be, putting your phone in “time-out” for an hour each evening, or going out to lunch with a friend or co-worker instead of eating alone at your desk. Take a walk, not for the sake of exercise, but to take in your neighborhood, stop and say hi to those you pass along the way, introduce yourself to the new family that just moved in, etc.. 

Let’s stop letting life just happen and be purposeful in our living. As a good friend often challenges me – YOLO (You only live once)! Lets not allow busyness to run and ruin our lives and our witness. Don’t be afraid to be quiet and still. Don’t try to fill the silence with mindless noise or scrolling, instead open God’s word and read or just go outside and listen! Will you join me?