Life is all about choices. And perhaps one of the biggest choices I make every single day is how I spend my time and what I invest my heart, soul, and life into each day.

The reality is we all have the same 24 hours a day, but how we spend those hours truly varies and ultimately comes down to what is important to each of us. And what I am learning is that if I am not careful with my time I can spend chunks of my day staying very busy but not really landing on what matters most.

John Maxwell says:

Activity is not necessarily accomplishment.

Wow. Isn’t that the truth! We all know how to be busy and run around from sun up to sun down, but what are we really accomplishing? What are we really investing our lives in?

Right now, as I am typing, it is 11 a.m., which means almost half of my day is gone—11 hours that I can never have back again. What have I done with these hours? Can I say that I have spent any of that time in a meaningful way?

Teach us, Lord, to number our days.  Psalm 90:12

What if we made this verse our life motto? What if every time we looked at our watches we recognized that every hour is truly a gift from God that we will never have again? Would we live with a greater sense of urgency? Would we live with more intention?

I love this quote by Tim Kizzair:

Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things that don’t really matter.     

I don’t want to just go through life surviving, coping, and existing. I don’t want to chase after things that don’t align with the dreams and plans God has for me. I want more from life. I want to experience that abundant life that Jesus talked about in John 10:10, a life that I believe is characterized by living with intention, purpose, and investing in things that truly matter.

So, how do we choose well each day and live each day that God gives us to the fullest?

Only you can search your heart to determine how God wants you to spend your days. But here are a few questions that help me stay focused on what I believe God has called me to each day:

1. Have I spent quality time with God?
2. Have I loved, encouraged, and taken care of my family to the best of my ability?
3. Have I fulfilled my responsibilities with excellence?
4. Have I taken steps towards living out my dream?
5. Have I encouraged or helped someone?
6. Have I taken time to have fun, to enjoy life, and recharge myself?

James 4:14 says that our lives are vapors that appear for a short while and then quickly vanish away. I couldn’t agree more. It feels like just yesterday I was a teenager and somehow I blinked and now I’m in my 40’s. Life is just flying by and I only have one shot at this thing called life. I want to LIVE IT WELL, and in order to do so, I must CHOOSE WELL each day.

Lord Jesus, help me to see each day as a precious gift from You, as a day that I can never experience again, and a day that is a fresh opportunity to use my life to make a difference for You. May I not look back at yesterday or race forward towards tomorrow, but may I live today to its fullest making the most of every moment to bring the greatest glory to Your name.