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Redeeming Productivity #171
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Issue #171 Your weekly roundup of insights and resources to help you get more done for the glory of God. In Today’s Issue:
"The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight." – Proverbs 4:7 Dear steward, I've been steeped in studying the Proverbs these past couple of months. Naturally, this has led me to think a lot about wisdom and how it relates to a Christian conception of productivity. The biblical wisdom literature asks and answers a simple, universal question: What is the best way to live? Or, more specifically, what is the relationship between human actions and their consequences? Commentators sometimes refer to this as the Deed-Destiny Nexus. I've often said that the subject of productivity fits best in the category of wisdom. Because it concerns things like:
My favorite definition of biblical wisdom makes this connection clear. J.I. Packer writes, “Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.” As much as it's important for us to think about the tactical parts of productivity—apps, systems, organizing, habits—we must not lose sight of the big picture. Productivity is not just about efficiently getting done what's in front of you today. It's about faithfully stewarding your life before God in light of eternity. It's about how we live these lives well. And for that, we need wisdom! To live well before God, we need more than just tips and tricks; we need the wisdom that is from above (James 3:17). So my prayer for you this morning is that you would pray to God for wisdom (James 1:5–8), seek it in His Word (Proverbs 2:6), and search for it like a valuable treasure (Proverbs 2:4). Because it's only as we live wisely that we are actually productive in what truly matters most.
THE ROUNDUP 🔗The best links I found this weekWisdom From Above (45 mins)Reagan Rose / Harvest Detroit
I mentioned last week that I've been doing pulpit fill at our church, preaching verse-by-verse through the first two chapters of Proverbs. The recordings are available now if you're looking for some summer sermon listening.
How Busy Should I Be? (5 mins)Kyle Grant / Growing Fathers An important question with some insightful answers. Responsible people are busy. People with families are busy. Families who are involved in church and the lives of others are busy. But just how busy should we be? If you haven’t wrestled with this question, you should. I hope here to provide some healthy conditioning as we all wrestle with this question. Redefining Family Vacations (4 mins)Jonathan Barrett / On Living Well This one is directed primarily to fathers. Vacations are a useful time to get rest of the weariness of work, but they can also sometimes be an occasion for sinful selfishness. We often expect vacation to be a relaxing time away from work to mentally check out and rest for the physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Instead – family vacations are a special chance to lead, serve, and work in a different, potentially more strenuous way than the work week. What You Read Builds Who You Are (5 mins)Randy Alcorn / Eternal Perspective Ministries Good reminders on why curating your information diet is so, so important. Bad books are poor companions; good books are great friends. The fact is, we will inevitably adopt the morality of the books we read (as well as the magazines, music, Internet sites, and conversations we consume). GIGO—garbage in, garbage out; or godliness in, godliness out. We become what we choose to feed our minds on: 🖋A DOSE OF WISDOMQuote of the WeekDirections for meditation: Read before you meditate. “Give attendance to reading” (1 Tim. 4:13). Then it follows, “meditate upon these things” (v. 15). Reading doth furnish with matter; it is the oil that feeds the lamp of meditation. Be sure your meditations are founded upon Scripture. Reading without meditation is unfruitful; meditation without reading is dangerous.Thomas Watson FINAL WORD 👋Thanks for reading!That's all for this week. Reagan Rose P.S. I'd love to hear from you. Just hit reply to let me know what you thought of this week's newsletter, share link ideas for future issues, or just say hello! Reagan RoseI talk about personal productivity from a Christian perspective. Creator of Redeeming Productivity. Take your productivity to the next levelGet the Book → Grab a copy of Redeeming Productivity: Getting More Done for the Glory of God Join the Academy → Get access to all of our courses, workshops, private community, book club, and more Get 1-on-1 Coaching → Work with a Redeeming Productivity coach |
Redeeming Productivity
Join over 10,000 believers receiving weekly insights and resources on productivity from a Christian perspective in their inboxes.
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