Intention

I’ve been pondering on the phrase, “living intentionally.” I’ve heard it in passing, from various sources, and have taken it to just mean thinking about what you’re doing and having a reason for doing it. And that totally makes sense, but I don’t recall hearing the phrase mentioned in relation to living for the Lord. My brief google search gave me the impression that it’s more of a thing unto itself, an attempt at living a full and meaningful life.

I guess there are lots of things that people can and do base this lifestyle on, whether their purpose is to make a lot of money, make their family happy, live an adventurous life, be kind to others, or whatever goals they want to achieve. But the thought occurred to me that my life will have all the fullness and meaning imaginable if my every intention is to serve the Lord.

This struck me the other day while I was ironing my skirt for church. Ironing is a pretty boring, mundane task, but if my heart is glad to be getting ready for worship, then getting rid of wrinkles becomes more fulfilling and joyful than I ever thought possible. That may be a silly example, but the concept applies to absolutely anything.

So, I’ve found myself asking two questions repeatedly for the past few days:

• Why am I doing this?
• and most importantly, How can I use this to serve the Lord?

And if I don’t have a good answer to either of those questions, maybe it’s something I don’t even need to be doing…