Watch That First Step...

Here it is, Friday night, just about time to go to bed. Tomorrow we're going down to my parents' house to have Christmas with my family, I'm sure it will be a great time. I just finished watching Groundhog Day (have it on DVR) and it sparked some thoughts.

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were in that situation? If you were able to live one day over and over again? I've thought about that many times. In fact, there are some days where I've thought, "I would HATE for this to be that day!" (I have often had this thought while spending all day driving somewhere for a mission trip. Imagine weeks of non-stop driving. Ug.) Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I ever ponder this question on a really good day... I wonder what that means...

Anyway, I think the movie does a great job exploring what an average person might do. We'd probably start off taking advantage of a life without consequences and would fulfill our every desire. Phil (Bill Murray) eats every dessert he can order, finds a woman he can seduce, and robs an armored truck to give himself a large bankroll. But the movie cleverly reveals that this is a very unfulfilling life. I know this to be true, and as a Christian I believe I know what (or should I say, "Who") life is really all about. While the movie falls a bit short of my answer, Phil does eventually find that it's much more rewarding to spend your life on others rather than yourself.

So why is it so easy to lose sight of that? Nothing drastic has happened recently... I don't have some horrible unconfessed sin to reveal. It's more a matter of simply letting days go by here in December without really doing anything with them. After all, it's Christmas "break." A week or two ago I added a verse to my desktop background, because it's something I constantly need to be reminded of: "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you." (Proverbs 4:25) In today's vernacular it might say, "Keep your eyes on the prize." Apparently putting it on my computer wasn't enough, as I'm still so easily distracted.

Unlike Phil, I don't get to do any one of these days over again. Each one is precious and should be treasured. Paul gets it, and writes these words in Ephesians 5:15-16: "Be very careful, then, how you live— not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." It's been a period of about two weeks, but since classes ended at Northwest, I've really been on cruise control. Nothing embarrassing to report, just floating along instead. I've prayed that the rest of break will be different.

If nothing else, this blog post will at least bump the dancing Spidey down the page a bit :)