The year to get it done

How bizarre! The very day I plan to write about efficiency my office PC crashes, resulting in a totally unproductive day. Now normally such events would send me into a rage but today it was easier to deal with. Luckily I have my Kindle application on my phone, so I managed to fit in some time for reading as I waited during the PC set up process.

I was meditating on efficiency being part of our spiritual disciplines and wondered to myself, can it really be possible to find more efficient ways to live out those disciplines. So I got to thinking about those 5 spiritual disciplines I have written about before as the 5 keys to spiritual growth and after much thought, yes I think we can apply efficiency to those aspects. Let me show you how:

1. Reading your bible: Reading our bible should be an integral part of our daily routine, but with our fast passed lifestyles, how do you make this happen? I have in recent years enjoyed using a bible application like Bible Gateway.....and would you believe it...they have an audio version. So just hit play and you can listen to the word of God in private while anywhere. If you are a busy parent, how about ensuring that part of the bed time routine includes a bible story for the kids and while they settle you can sit quietly and catch up on a chapter or two.
2. Prayer: We all find it hard these days to take “time out” to pray. So how about learning to include that in your normal daily routines? This applies to worship too. Washing dishes, walking the dogs or cats, sitting in traffic and doing exercise, can all be times which you can include God in your lifestyle and communicate with Him. Trust me God does not require us to be kneeling at the bed for Him to listen too us. No I think He quite likes it when we recognize Him as our partner in life and include Him in our day.
3. Reaching out/evangelism: Trying to live for Christ each day is hard when things go wrong, but when we make an effort and display grace in the face of difficulties, people will notice God in you.
4. Relationship with other Christians: We all hate technology for the distance it puts between people, but honestly if that happens it is your choice. I find technology, especially whatsapp has helped me maintain a closer relationship with my mother and friends. Just a quick text to let someone know you are thinking about them really can make a difference in their lives.
5. Praying for forgiveness of sins: Include this in your prayer routine. Ask God to make you sensitive to His leading as to when there is sin in your life.

Slightly longer blog for today, but hey, efficiency is not about the length of the text, it's about the clarity of the message. Hope this one helps you to think more laterally about how to include God in your daily life. I can testify that these keys are great help in my life and I pray they will make a difference in yours.