To Do What’s Most Important, I Need To Clarify What’s Most Important

In review of Job 34:3-4 it says, “We can choose the sounds we want to listen to; we can choose the taste we want in food, and we should choose to follow what is right. But first of all we must define among ourselves what is good” (TLB).

Today’s passage comes from Job 34:3-4. In it Job it telling his friends to listen and decide what’s most important. He says, the ear tests the words it hears just as the mouth distinguishes between foods. So let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good.

Lately, I’ve been looking at my schedule and the choices I make. There are often times in my life when I feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do what needs to be done, and yet still sleep. This verse reminds me that in order to make the most of my time, I need to clarify what’s most important.

Stop thinking, “I can’t get it all done,” and start realizing that it may not all be worth doing. I can’t get it all done because God doesn’t expect me to get it all done.

In clarifying what’s important, I’ve got to know what matters most and what doesn’t matter at all. I’ve got to know what counts and what doesn’t count. I’ve got to know what’s going to last and what’s not going to last. Most of the ways I spend my time won’t have any impact in a year, much less in 10 years or in 50 years or for even for eternity. So I’ve got to know what I value most. And I have to clarify what is and isn’t important.

The greatest gift that God has given me is salvation by Jesus Christ. He came and died on the cross so that my sins could be forgiven. I needed to accept that gift. The second greatest gift I’m given in life is the freedom to choose.

Job 34:3-4 says, “We can choose the sounds we want to listen to; we can choose the taste we want in food, and we should choose to follow what is right. But first of all we must define among ourselves what is good” (TLB). If I don’t get a handle on this now, I may end up going their my entire life having never taken the time to define what matters most to me, to literally sit down and write out my values. I need to define, “This is what is good, and this is what is bad. This is what I want out of life, and this is what I don’t want.”

As I make these decisions/choices, it’s important to write then down. Dawson Trotman (evangelist) often said, “Thoughts disentangle themselves when they pass through the lips and the fingertips.” In other words, when I can write it and I can say it, it becomes clearer. Having it written down will keep it from being fuzzy in my mind. So I must define what is good. I must clarify what matters most.

When I haven’t clarified what I want out of life, I’ll end up being indecisive all the time, because I can’t do what’s good until I decide what’s good. I can’t do what’s important until I decide what’s important. I can’t practice what I want to do in life until I clarify what I want to do in life.

Bottom Line:

We need to discern for ourselves what is right and good.

What this means to me:

I can choose what I want to listen to as well as follow what is right. However before doing so, I must define what I believe is good.

In summary, I choose what I want to listen to, taste what I want, desire to follow what is right, but first I must define what is good. In order to make the most of my time, I really need to clarify what's most important. I can't get it all done, and God doesn't want me to get it all done. There are things that are not really worth doing. The key is to know what matters most, what will last and what won't. I have been given the freedom to choose. It's important to write it out and to review it regularly. It should become part of my everyday filter for what I should and shouldn't do.

Today I want to consider what’s most important, especially at work. What things can I do that will matter the most and have a longer term impact. This morning Father I thank you for what you have provided me in this life and the privilege of serving you and doing your will. I pray this morning for your wisdom and guidance in managing my job, leading others and in how I interact with those around me. These things I pray in your Son Jesus name, amen!