It's so easy for me not to be intentional in the way I use my time every day. I'm one of those people that thrives under a routine with somewhere to be or something to accomplish, so it's very easy to steadily let my grip relax when there's no schedule to follow. This is especially true right now when I have no place to be on any given day of the week. It's common for me to begin the day believing I will be productive and check everything off of my to-do list, but I also get distracted very easily and in the last couple of weeks I've caught the lazy in a bad way.
Being intentional with my time is a learned skill for me, something I trained myself to do in school to manage the workload even as far back as high school. I adhered to a strict routine in college, involving one of my favorite coffee shops, a lot more than the recommended dose of caffeine through black coffee, caramel macchiatos, and Friends episodes on repeat. Being so stringent from Monday through Friday left the few weekends I spent not marching with the Famous Maroon Band on the football field with more freedom than I knew what to do with (the FMB to those who call themselves members, including parents. You're welcome, Mama.) For most people, one lazy day on the weekend is nothing more than just resting up for the week ahead. For me, it's like an addiction. I get one little whiff of laziness on the weekend and when I wake up Monday morning with nothing to do but sit in the house all day, it just gives me one more excuse not to accomplish anything.
Let me tell you something I'm sure you already know: The enemy knows our weaknesses and he knows how to exploit them. This looks different for everyone, but for me this looks like coach-potato Jennifer endlessly watching Netflix on a daily basis. The enemy has no problem planting suggestions in our minds either. Let me give you an example:
I like to have a TV show on in the background at home because I like the noise, and I prefer to watch an episode of something while eating lunch. None of this is problematic. I can be productive throughout the day with a show playing in the background and during lunch. The problem begins after I'm finished with my lunch and it's time to get moving again. See, the enemy knows that when I sit down to watch just one episode of Grey's Anatomy (don't judge) he can all too easily suggest "Just one more won't hurt. They aren't that long." So, I'll watch one more... and one more... and one more... and before you know it the entire afternoon has been wasted and my brain feels like it's melting.
I'm sure you're already aware of this too, but for those who may not know, the enemy does this same thing with time you've devoted to spending in God's word or in prayer or both. Have you ever been going about your morning about to read your daily devotional when this thought pops in your head: I don't have time for this, or I'm going to be late to work if I do this right now, or I'll just do it later on when I have more time. Any of those thoughts sound familiar to you? Because those are exactly what pop into my head around that time of my morning. When I hear these thoughts it's tempting to believe that I don't have time or that I'm too tired to get anything out of it. You're not the first person to be tempted to set your Bible aside and carry on with your day. Even Jesus faced temptation by the devil after fasting for 40 days and nights in the wilderness.
Then the tempter approached Him and said, "If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." But He [Jesus] answered,"It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
- Matthew 4:3-4
Can you imagine how hard it would have been for Jesus not to do just that when He could have made a feast? When those thoughts begin to stir inside you, that's the moment you have to choose to be faithful in devoting that time to the Lord. I know, I know I'm preaching to the choir. This is something God laid on my heart for me to hear today, and maybe you needed to hear it to.
For those of you who, like me, are afflicted with the lazy and tempted to let it take over your day, consider this verse from 1 Corinthians and think about it's implications in your life:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
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