Fruitful Labor

Last fall when I was preaching through Philippians at a local church, I was really struck by Paul's statement in 1:22 as he's wrestling with the real possibility of death before him. He says, "If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me." One thing that hit me was the certainty of his statement. He knew he'd be fruitful if was to keep drawing breath.

As I pondered that for a while, I began to think of a lot of the things that keep us from being fruitful today. Many of them may not look particularly "spiritual" on the surface, but I've found that they greatly impact just how fruitful we are each day. I think in each of these areas of life, we should be faithful and disciplined so that our lives can be as fruitful as possible for God and His kingdom.

In no particular order, here's some of them.

1. Regularly getting enough sleep. I have a friend who has often said, "Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is go to bed." I firmly believe this! Ever since I established a consistent bedtime of 11pm every night, followed by getting up at 6am every day, I've found my life to be far more productive.


2. Eating right. This one rocks my world because I've seen what an effect poor nutrition has on me. If I consume large quantities of sugar - pop, candy, snacks, etc - it just knocks me out. Then I'm tired, lethargic, grumpy, and very ineffective in my life! The other piece of this is that I have to make sure and drink plenty of water each day.


3. Getting exercise. It's just a fact that the American lifestyle lends itself to being sedentary. We don't have to walk anywhere and many of our jobs no longer revolve around physical labor. I spend much of my time sitting with students or sitting at a desk - so I regularly have to schedule some racquetball or some other form of activity. It makes a radical difference on how I feel each day. I've also had to incorporate stretching into my daily routine - apparently things really do change as you get older.


4. Less sickness! Doing each of things has kept me from being sick (other than the occasional runny nose) for over a year. That means no missed days of work, no canceled appointments with people and no scrambling to find a replacement for some urgent responsibility. I'm not suggesting that you're a lazy irresponsible bum if you come down with the flu, I'm just saying making wise choices can go a long way in protecting you from it.

I could probably add some other things to the list - especially being financially responsible - but that's a quick four to throw out today. Does anyone out there have other things they would add to a list like this?