What Did You Do Today?
"What did you do today?"
My husband and I usually ask each other this question when we see each other in the evening. With numerous responsibilities and commitments that keep us running in many directions, we try to intentionally connect with each other at the end of the day.
What did you do today? We live in a culture that encourages activity. We are valued for our productivity - how much we can achieve in the shortest amount of time. You could say that the currency of our culture is measured in minutes and dollars. It's not that efficiency and productivity are wrong, but if that is our only focus, we are left with little time for relationships.
In the book A Minute of Margin: Restoring Balance to Busy Lives, author Richard A. Swenson contends that our culture of bigger, better, and faster is taking our lives "in the direction of overload. Culture and life are flowing away from family, church, and community. And it is happening more rapidly that we can imagine."
I think most of us would look at our lives and admit that this is true. Although we have more time-saving devices than any other generation, we seem to have less time to sit down, enjoy each other, and just be.
When Jesus was asked what was the best way to live a God-honoring life, he replied, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'"(Matthew 22:37-39).
Jesus didn't just say these words, but he modeled them with his life. Again and again we see how he stopped what he was doing to reach out and touch people who needed help. He responded with compassion to the life stories people shared with him. He understood that loving people took time, intent and focus.
In God's world, love is the currency that is spent. And love is not like money, in which the more you hoard, the richer you are. Richard Swenson adds, "But with love, the more you spend the richer you become... There is an infinite supply. You can use it and use it, yet there will still be more left over. It is God's transcendent economics."
I want to try an experiment. Maybe you want to join me. Rather than asking each other, "What did you do today?", let's ask, "Who did you love today?" Let's focus on who instead of what. Let's focus on loving instead of doing. Let's see what happens. Will it make a difference in the people in our lives? Will it make a difference in how we view the world?
I'm curious, aren't you?