Time waits for no man... I'm sure at some point in your life you may have heard or perhaps said that to yourself or someone else. In life, it takes time to invest and maintain anything that is truly meaningful. Take relationships of any kind--unless you invest in developing and maintaining them, they quickly suffer and can easily be destroyed or simply lost. While it takes time to develop and maintain a relationship, it can take as little as a few seconds, minutes or even just a moment for it to be destroyed--even over something viewed as minor. Usually, the destruction comes either by a word spoken (or not spoken), neglect or even oblivion. Sometimes you don't even realize that the relationship is headed for destruction because you are so consumed by yourself and what you're doing that by the time it comes to light, it could be too late. Thank God for His grace that will bring this to light if you are walking with him. If suddenly you realize things are headed downhill, God can help you and them get back on track. At that point, you have to make the time to invest and maintain...
I found it interesting as I thought about the need to invest and maintain that the principle is applicable to so many areas in our lives. Relationships is just the easiest to see. But take a step back to reflect on your life and think about the other areas where you would need to make time to invest and maintain in order for things to work or do well. Our health is a big one. A simple example is how the slow decline or neglect of exercise and healthy eating begins to show when you let yourself go. When you start neglecting healthy habits, it doesn't seem like a big deal in the beginning, then time passes, and your body begins to reflect the lack of investment and maintenance that you used to put. I'm guilty of that. I have let myself go and now feeling the pinch of being unhealthy and lack of exercise. So this morning, I recommitted myself and RESET so that I could get back on track. I need to carve out the time to invest and maintain in my health and wellness.
A few other areas come to mind where we all need to invest and maintain. Our spiritual wellness... slow decline of reading the word of God and praying, lack of commitment, and anything else that would help your spiritual well-being. Take time to invest in reading the Word of God and praying--daily. Without either, your spirit man will suffer and your physical man will act out because of it. Then there's our work... when you let things slip, it's only a matter of time that things change and may explode. Take time to follow through on your commitments at work and rise to the occasion for every challenge that presents itself--don't be timid. If you don't know what you need to do or how, learn about it and ask questions. Make the investment and maintain your work with gusto!
Remember to always invest and maintain your sanity! Take time out to be with you! Don't let yourself go and forget that you need to take care of you. On the other hand, try not to be over-consumed with yourself, since you are not living on an island all by yourself. :) Start TODAY!
