How do you spend your time? We have a tendency to gravitate to those tasks that are easy rather than those that are difficult. The difficult undertakings often prove to be most significant in the long run. The easy tasks can provide a sense of accomplishment, but we must be careful that we do not substitute doing good things for doing great things.

Jesus and His disciples passed a man who had been born blind and His disciples speculated some of the reasons for His condition. We can likewise propound reasons for problems that are attractive, acceptable, and wrong. Jesus revealed a different solution to carry out God’s work while they had the opportunity:

We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. (John 9:4)

The word day represents the window of time we have for a specific task. This contrasts with the word night that signifies that the opportunity for work no longer exists. When we say yes to one task, we are automatically saying no to something else. We must devote ourselves to that which is most important from God’s perspective. Francois Duc De La Rochefoucauld wrote, “Those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things” (Maxims 41). Great endeavors are rarely easy tasks, so we may find excuses to put them off. The great danger is that we can become involved in supposedly good things but miss the great things. One of the great tragedies of life is to succeed at that which doesn’t matter.

Marcus Aurelius warned us, “You could be good today, but instead you choose tomorrow.” Why do we often wait for an idealistic tomorrow rather than maximizing our lives in the present moment? We may wistfully desire a utopian future with just the right circumstances. The reality is circumstances are rarely what we want them to be.

C.S. Lewis warns us of the dangers of mediocrity in his insightful essay The Weight of Glory, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Are you far too easily pleased? What great task is God calling you to accomplish? Determine what are those things that only you can do. We must be mindful that this one life will soon be past but only what’s done for Christ will last. Make sure your life is not consumed with small things so that you have the ability to accomplish great things!

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

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