Several years ago I decided that I would be sure to get one thing done every day. That task was to make my bed. It seems like a simple thing, and it is. But it has had far-reaching importance as I enter each day.
It can be difficult at times to determine the value of making a simple decision over and over again. What I have discovered is that as I have continued to rise each morning and make my bed I can continue with the rest of my day knowing I have accomplished at least one thing. It is small I will grant that, but it is something that has been accomplished.
Are there days when I forget? Yes. Not as many as there used to be. The idea of rising every day with the goal of achieving at least one thing has a positive effect on how you view the rest of the day. The idea is not to pat yourself on the back for having done it. But rather to acknowledge that regardless of what else may come in the day you have done something productive.
It can be difficult at times to determine the value of making a simple decision over and over again.
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Some might argue that making your bed every morning does not qualify as productivity. But I would counter by pointing that that when we fail to set a positive outlook on the day, on any day for that matter, anything else we did not complete or had direct input over can set the agenda. And usually in a negative direction.
The idea of intentionality is key to living a life of peace. The kind of peace I have in mind is a sense of internal, resident peace. The sense of knowing we have done what we could. And that’s good enough.
It may seem odd to consider what we do in the first few moments of rising every morning as having a lasting effect on the rest of the day. But I think it is worth noting how the Scriptures encourage us to remember that God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). I take this to mean God desires for us to begin each day contemplating and considering what he has done in our lives. To take it a step further we are encouraged to consider what God will continue to do in our lives.
The idea here is not to over-spiritualize the simple acts of everyday life. More to the point, we should normalize the ins and outs of everyday living as a part of the natural ebb and flow of a life lived with God. When we make everything spiritual nothing is spiritual. But when we embrace the reality that there is no need to spiritualize anything, we can begin to accept how everything we do “as unto the Lord” can become an act of worship. This may seem like a contradictory set of statements, but they are not.
When we recognize that everything we do before the Lord can be done to glorify him, we don’t have to “try” to make it glorify him. God being glorified becomes just the natural result of living. But when we try to make things “spiritual” what we have done is we have separated what God is doing in our lives into categories that may not necessarily reflect who God is.
This is not always easy to understand. But it is worth the effort to try.
In this season of Lent, as we continue our journey towards Easter morning, I think it would be worth our time to look at what we do as we rise every day to face the challenges that they might bring. In turn, I encourage you to pause, maybe before your feet hit the ground, and consider what will become of this new day God has prepared for and gifted to you.
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