We should go about our lives with a purpose in mind.  I spoke to my mother on the phone the other day and she asked me: “What’s new?” and I said:”Nothing much.”

“What do you mean?  What do you get up to?” she asked again.

“Well, I go to work, I go home, eat something, watch some TV, go to bed…like I said, nothing much”, having said that I had to pause and think a little about what I had just said.  I was sounding positively aimless. 

Me?  Aimless?  Can’t be!  I have a successful career, I have friends, I go to church…and more than the average person I might add. (Says I in a very indignant fashion)

Where am I going? I have to ask myself.  I have goals.  Be at this place in my job in this many years, live here and have that.  Be like this, look like that.  Sure, I have goals.  But, what about the purpose, ambition and excitement?

A couple of years ago, I made a decision to get serious about my faith.  I wanted to not only know of God, but to actually have relationship with Him.  To walk in His will and do anything I do for His glory.  And that is still what I want to do.  Just sometimes I seem to get so involved with the day to day tasks of living a holy life that I actually forget to LIVE a holy life. 

My job is in project management.  When managing a project you firstly have to come up with the plan.  Set the objective, goals and deliverables.  These are usually very easy.  In real life, deciding what you want and where you want to be is easy.  In your spiritual life, this is also easy.  “I want to know God.”  “I want to treat everyone with love.” “I want to (insert specific sin here) less.”

Then in project management you have come up with the steps in how you are going to achieve your goals, objective or purpose.  This is also very easy.  “Read your Bible more.”  “Pray more.”  “Join the (insert specific church activity here) team”

Now comes the hard part.  You actually have to set out to execute your plan.  Did you know that about 65% of projects fail because of poor execution?   Project execution is a very difficult task.  You constantly need to keep track of progress.  You also need to constantly keep your objectives in mind in order to make sure the project doesn’t go off on a tangent.  You have to motivate, push and measure to make sure that you will accomplish what you set out to do.

The best way about going about doing this is to break-up large tasks in shorter ones and make sure you complete each one step by step.  You have to set milestones and review your progress constantly. 

All of us have spiritual goals, the main objective being to one day go home to our Father in Heaven.  We might have other main objectives like living a worshipful, loving and grateful life. These we can break-up in smaller tasks, like completing a bible course, joining a charity group or making a mental decision to be more patient.  Now, you have to accomplish these.  In the beginning it’s easy to be enthusiastic and committed, then later the excitement fades and after a while you find yourself going about the motions and feeling aimless. 

The point is to make regular mental stops to check on your progress.  Some people make New Year’s resolutions (I am not talking about the “I will lose half my body weight and learn a new language” kind).  Mid-year, like now in July is also a good time to take a moment to reflect.  But you don’t really need a specific time to check up on yourself.  Anytime could be a good time to ask yourself “Am I making progress?”  “Is my life going in the right direction?”  “Is my relationship with God growing?”  You should also ask: “What am I doing that’s not fruitful?” “What is standing between me and what I want to do”  “Have I prayed and asked God’s will in this?”  “Have I asked for the Holy Spirit’s guidance?”

We find ourselves slipping into a rut so easily.  When you feel that you are accomplishing things your excitement grows.  Think about the examples God uses in Jeremiah 18:1-6:

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

"Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words."

 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.

The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

Then the word of the LORD came to me:

Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the LORD. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

God is forming and building us daily into a vessel that is fit for His purpose.  Do we stop and reflect whether we are letting Him work in us.   Do we stop and reflect on our progress?  Our life is a project in God’s hands and He will continue the good work in us until Christ Jesus returns.

By Winrie Kruger

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