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Consider This: Living With Intention

 

I loved the Kenosee Lake Super Slides! I loved the Freefall. I loved the Bonzi runs. However, as I got a little older, I started to enjoy the Lazy River. The Lazy River was the part at the bottom of the slides where you could sit on an inner tube, drink a Coke, and float around. The river slowly moved you around the park. There was nothing for you to do but sit back and enjoy the sunshine and the ride.

Hanging out on the Lazy River is great for a while, but you never get anywhere. It always wraps back around to the place where you began. Also, because you are just floating along, it requires nothing from you, so there are no amazing stories to tell about it.

In our real lives, it is easy to get caught in the Lazy River. It is tempting to do what everyone else is doing, not because we have chosen it, but because it seems to be the thing to do. We want to fit in, so we float along, assuming that wherever we are going is the right place to be. Often, though, the Lazy River approach to life leaves people unsatisfied and discontent.

A much better approach is to live with intention. Doing what we do because we have decided that these are the important things. Often, the most valuable parts of life are overlooked in our rush to do what is expected. We need to start seeing our lives differently.

In scripture, the apostle Paul, wrote to a young man named Timothy and said, “But you, man of God, flee from all of this (an unhealthy focus on things like popularity, power and money – see verses 1-10), and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11)

Fleeing from what is harmful and running towards what is good requires a measure of intention. The Lazy River approach will not work.

We need to keep first things first (Matthew 6:33).

(PS. Could someone reopen the waterslides? That would be great!)



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