There are a few perils involved in our world of modern conveniences. If we are not careful we will become consumed by our hunger to be consumers. We will rush by the important values in life in our hurry to cruise through the drive through on our way to get to the ballgame we are about to miss because of the piano lessons that ran late because we got hung up by the mechanic at the quick lube.

We have cell phones so that we can call anywhere at anytime, unless you’ve got one of those lousy plans that only works 3 miles from the place you bought it. Remember the days when 64K came out and we were so awed by our first computer. In today’s rush, if you have a 2 Gig processor and have to wait a nano-second for the next screen, you get impatient. Time is a valuable commodity and we all seem to be strapped for it. Part of what I do is to provide free sermons online for busy pastors. It often takes hours to prepare a solid bible lesson, so I enjoy helping them out from under some of the load and all completely free of charge.

It all really hit me the other day when my wife and I were out of town for a conference. After the evening session we made it back to the Hotel. As we approached the elevator to head for our third floor room I pulled out my keys and began pushing the remote button so that the elevator door would open. My wife laughed me to scorn and is still using the story for mileage. However, it was then I realized how accustomed I had become to convenience. Needless to say, the elevator would not partner with me and I had to reach out my hand and push a button before the door would open. How do we escape this bondage to the quick and convenient?

To help, make it a practice in your life to do the following every day:

1. Take a purposeful time-out and consciously thank God for your blessings. If we never pause and thank God for taking care of us, we lower ourselves on the scale of living things. What do I mean? Well, an ole pig never looks up and thanks the tree from which the acorns fall with which he fills his gut. Surely, we can do better than an ole hog. Ever wonder why, grumpy ungrateful people grunt a lot? Hmmmm!

2. Do an inventory on how your negative to positive ratio is running for the day. It is easy in the sometimes vicious demands of life to become negative and lose the light of hope in our eyes and hearts. Stop and do an inventory. If you are really brave, ask a good friend to tell you truthfully if you are getting the ole nasty negative virus on you. Don’t make them pay if they tell you that you are. Just thank them and choose to be positive. No one likes to hang around nasty and negative. It’s like the smell of cigarette smoke, it gets all over you.

3. Choose to be grateful and appreciative as much as possible in every circumstance you face. This is closely aligned with the first two suggestions, but a necessary step. Life is a series of choices. Positive choices and a grateful heart go a long way to helping you transcend the business of life and truly enjoy the journey.

These little practices of the heart will help keep things better aligned inside of you. If you like online bible study site spend some time delving into the Scripture. It will feed and enrich your soul.

Blessings,
Eddie Lawrence of Sermon Seedbed

P.S. Read about emotional freedom technique, because it helped many to find the path to self discovery.