70: How to Waste Your Life (A Nonexhaustive List)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

How to Waste Your Life

• View your behind-the-scenes responsibilities as unimportant.
• Allow anger to plant seeds of bitterness in your heart.
• Live for the praise of others.
• Delight in temporary fulfillment.
• Worry incessantly about what others think about you.
• Stress over your to-do list and unmet goals.
• Spend your days comparing yourself to others, competing with others, and criticizing those around you.
• Strive endlessly after perfection.
• Settle for half-hearted obedience to God.
• Build a platform for your fame.
• Obsess about creating a comfortable life.
• Always put yourself first.
• Complain and grumble when your schedule and plans change.
• Refuse to receive the gift of rest.
• Leave your Bible unopened, collecting dust on the bookshelf.
• Neglect meeting with the body of Christ.
• Want what you don’t have.
• Keep what you do have.
• Quit what God has called you to do.

How Not to Waste Your Life

• Value your time with God above all else (see Psalm 73:25-26).
• Spend your days worshiping him in your ordinary, everyday life (see Colossians 3:23).
• Shape your days around God’s Word (see Psalm 119:97).
• Rest in the finished work of Jesus (see Hebrews 4:11).
• Pray without ceasing, always giving thanks to God (see 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• Love others the way Christ has loved you, and forgive as you’ve been forgiven (see Ephesians 4:32).
• Savor God’s Word and hide it in your heart (see Psalm 119:11).
• Live with awe and wonder (see Psalm 8:1).
• Speak with grace and truth (see Colossians 4:6).
• Share the gospel with those around you (see Matthew 28:18-20).
• Embrace suffering as a means to knowing Christ more (see Philippians 3:10-11).
• Live from the overflow of your walk with God (see Colossians 2:6-7).
• Find more joy in giving than receiving (see Acts 20:35).
• Fear the Lord (see Proverbs 9:10).
• Faithfully gather with the body of Christ, and encourage others in the Lord (see Hebrews 10:25).
• Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God (see Micah 6:8).
• Care for the poor, the orphan, and the widow (see James 1:27).
• Walk as children of light (see Ephesians 5:8).
• Put on the whole armor of God and fight from the victory you have in Jesus (see Ephesians 6:10-20).
• Live for what matters eternally (see Matthew 6:19-21).

Word before World Life is fleeting, but we can live for what lasts into eternity, making the best use of the time we are given each day.

Grow in Grace What would you add to both of these lists? Pray Ephesians 5:15-16, asking God to guide your steps, fill you with wisdom, and help you make the best use of the time.