You Just Gotta Do It! – Philippians 3:13

13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,...
– Philippians 3:13

You Just Gotta Do It!
There are a lot of distractions in our lives and sometimes, it seems that we try to address all of them at the same time.  Distractions aren't necessarily a bad thing but in order to bring things into perspective, I think I should probably use another word or phrase . . . how about "GottaDos" – yeah, GottaDos, we've got a lot of them don't we?

I mean think about it – what do you GottaDo today?  For some of us, the list would take a couple of pages and if there were more hours in a day, we would probably keep adding those GottaDos.  It's absolutely exhausting sometimes isn't it?  GottaDo this, GottaDo that, GottaGo here, GottaStop there, GottaBuy this (and that), GottaGo to work (work has it's own set of GottaDos), GottaPut gas in the car, GottaPay the bills, GottaCall the plumber, GottaGet a hair cut, GottaWater the plants, Gotta, Gotta, Gotta . . . Good Grief!

While some of those things are important, they can distract us from the one thing we really GottaDo.  We can make ourselves so busy that we don't have time for the Lord.  Our time with Him should be the number one GottaDo in our lives and everything else should only come AFTER we have spent some time loving on Him, and ministering to Him, and letting Him Minister to us.  This one GottaDo is His way of ministering to us and giving us direction for our lives.  This one thing . . . this one GottaDo, will get us past the stresses and pressures of the day, and it will help us get perspective on and for our lives, so that we can be effective witnesses for the kingdom.  It will help us heal past hurts, and it will allows us to find grace in our hearts, and forgive the people who have hurt us.  It will also help us to find the grace to forgive ourselves (wouldn't that be nice?).  This one GottaDo is the key to successfully having the time, resources, energy, and desire, to take care of all the other "things" in our lives.  

Are you hurting? GottaDo Jesus!  

Are you sick? GottaDo Jesus!  

Are you still looking for work? GottaDo Jesus!  

Whatever and wherever you are in your life, the One and Only thing you GottaDo, is spend time with Jesus.  He will help you take care of everything else.

What do you GottaDo today?  Have you done it yet?

Prayer
Lord Jesus, I know that I have not given You the time that I need to lately.  I have busied myself with so many other things that I have neglected my time with You and I am so sorry.  Please forgive my petty and seflish desires.  Lord, I will not neglect You anymore – I will spend time with You first, and if I run out of time to do some things as a result then so be it – I know that there is nothing more important than spending my time with You.  Thank You Lord for being patient with me and for opening Your arms wide for me to come running into each and every day – I will no longer leave You standing with empty arms.

Have a blessed day everyone!

-Richard