I love standing alongside a mountain stream watching what goes by. Some of the leaves or twigs are driven along by the current or a breeze, but the fish are different.  They are swimming by. They are going somewhere. I doubt that they are consulting a day planner, but their activity is intentional.  They are moving along on purpose.

Unfortunately, many of our lives look more like the leaves and twigs than the fish.   Our schedules are reactive, our thoughts are random, our plans are sporadic and our activities are frenetic.  Too often, our days begin in a rush and end in exhaustion. And we are not exactly sure what we accomplished in between.

One solution might be to consider the pattern that Benjamin Franklin used to keep himself focused and living intentionally.  Each morning as he wrote out his goals for the day, he would write out this question on the top of his planner:”What good should I do this day?”  Although I doubt that he was a Christian, he carefully considered his daily options.  He looked for a way to actually accomplish something meaningful. And at the end of each day, he asked himself an evening question: ”What good have I done today?”

In between those two questions he lived his life on purpose.  He had things he wanted to get done. He was a very accomplished individual.

You and I may never rise to the level of Mr. Franklin’s accomplishments, but we should be just as driven…driven to live our lives in a manner that pleases Christ. We should be living each day according to I Cor. 10:31 where we are enjoined to “do all to the glory of God”.  We too need to be intentional.  Our schedules need to reflect thoughtful goals and spiritual intentions. We should be purposeful about our activities, plan for accomplishments and reflect of what happened each day.

Otherwise, we may find ourselves in a predicament like Alice as she was searching for a way out of Wonderland.  When she came to a fork in the road she asked the Cheshire Cat for advice.  She asked, “Which road should I take?” The Cat replied, “Where are you going?” Alice said that she didn’t know.  And then the Cat replied again, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

This week, chose your road. Know where you want to go. Be intentional about your personal, family and spiritual goals.  Think through your activities, be careful about your free time, analyze your choices and choose to live intentionally.  Imagine what we might get done if we lived life on purpose!