A Foul Thing

Let’s face it you guys. The bottom line is: I’m lazy.

The German word for it is ‘Faul’ (pronounced foul), which seems pretty appropriate. ‘Lazy’ connotes a complacency or a general inactivity, but ‘Faul’ sounds a lot more harsh.

And for me, at least, I need that. I need to be reminded that wasting my time on meaningless nothings is foul to the Lord. I’ve been allotted this time on Earth, he has graciously given it to me. It’s a foul thing to fritter it away.

Proverbs is a great place to get grounded in that reality.

Right off the bat, when I opened up to chapter one on Saturday, I was hit with it:

Proverbs does a lot of contrasting the wise and the foolish, and it’s made pretty clear that lazy people fall in the ‘foolish’ category.

Like I said on Saturday, I’m focusing on discipline this month. Discipline in all areas of my life. I’m praying for God to do a work in my heart & my habits – in other words, I’m looking for a miracle.

After praying through the first few chapters of Proverbs & thinking through the areas of my life that could use the most work, I’ve come up with a few goals for this month:

• getting to bed earlier & waking up in time to open the Word
• keeping the house in general order (no running out of clean underwear or spoons!)
• regular blogging (a given, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a challenge)
• regular exercise (my goal is to walk 30-40 miles this month, Nike & I both need it)
• intentionally serving someone each day, through letters, texts, Starbucks treats, or any number of other ways (today: a loaf of banana bread is cooling on the counter, waiting for Steve)
• finish memorizing Colossians (I started years ago, and there’s no reason why I can’t get the last chapter and a half done this month)

I’m praying that this change in my schedule & habits, especially the daily dose of Proverbs, will lead to a change in my heart & soul.