PRAISE PROMPT ••• I’ve been a writer for my community magazines for ten years, so I have a lot of back issues.
I’ve been storing them in a cheap bookcase in my home office, but the shelves began bowing under the weight in less than a year.
My husband and I’ve been discussing what to do with them.
I don’t reference them often, but often enough that I didn’t want them in plastic containers in the basement.
Our solution was a negative space in our guest room closet.
While I was at work yesterday, Wayne installed shelves along the side of the closet and reinforced them with extra support to handle the weight.
It’s a huge help and looks great.
The project got me thinking about negative spaces, specifically the negative spaces in our lives.
How often do we zone out, then complain we don’t have enough time?
I’m a big fan of the tv show, “The Office,” and despite the number of times I’ve watched it, I can lose hours to it.
It’s an easy way for me to decompress, and I need that.
But I don’t need it all the time, and I can’t blame the show when I’m later scrambling to get everything done!
We all have 24 hours in a day; it’s up to us how we spend them.
Ephesians 5:16-17 says, “Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”
If we’re missing out on Bible Study, prayer time, or even church attendance, but we have time for things that don’t add value to our souls, it’s time to take a hard look at how we’re filling the negative spaces.
We have to use the time God gave us wisely.
My husband didn’t create a new addition to the house to accommodate those magazines; he used what we had in a different way.
We have to do the same with our time.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
So the challenge today is this: are you making the most of your negative spaces?
Leave time to decompress, but is there an hour in there you can give to God?
Today, let’s offer praise to the One who can fill our souls better than anyone and commit (or recommit) to spending more time with Him, and better utilizing the 24 hours He gives us each day.
