How to Make the Most of Your Life

‘People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like,’ writes Shane Claiborne in his book The Irresistible Revolution. ‘Sometimes it’s like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery, like a beautiful, wise old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget – her feet. Her feet were deformed. Each morning I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted leprosy. One day a Sister explained, “Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that have deformed her feet.” Years of loving her neighbour as herself deformed her feet.’ When people are asked about the person whose life they most admire, so often the answer is ‘Mother Teresa’. She made the most of her life. It is a paradox, because her life was a life of self-denial, taking up her cross and following Jesus. Life is an extraordinary and wonderful gift. In the Bible we are constantly urged not to waste this gift, but instead to make the most of our lives.

Proverbs 6:1-11

Master self-discipline

The book of Proverbs gives you practical wisdom on how to make the most of your life and how to avoid wasting it by falling into various traps. In the passage for today we see two examples:

Master your finances

One of the areas of life that requires self-discipline is our finances. There are always plenty of financial traps and snares – such as unmanageable debt, unwise investment and foolish pledges. The writer urges you that, if you have got yourself into a financial muddle (v.2–5), you should do everything in your power to get out of it as soon as possible: ‘Don’t waste a minute’ (v.3, MSG).

You may have to humble yourself (v.3b). You may have to plead your case (v.3c). Do everything in your power to free yourself from these snares (v.5). If we don’t get our finances sorted out it can have a very detrimental effect on our lives and on our families.

Master your time

We can waste our lives through a lack of self-discipline. Without accountability we can easily become lazy, and this can have disastrous consequences (v.9–11). We can learn self-leadership from the ant; nobody tells it what to do. ‘It has no commander, no overseer or ruler’ (v.7), yet it works extremely hard: ‘It stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest’ (v.8).

Of course, it is important to get enough sleep. Our bodies need rest. But we need to be careful not to waste our time in unproductive activity.