This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.”

Haggai 1:7

On a recent podcast (12/12/21 Broken and Beautiful), I shared about how the new year can be great if actions that get you to your goal are applied consistently. In 2021, my word of the year was “consistency,” as in the compounding nature of consistent habits. Think about it—30 minutes a day during the weekdays culminates in 2.5 hours by the end of the week. Multiply that by 52, and you’re 130 hours closer to reaching your goal every year.

In 2022, my word of the year is “steward.” Taking inspiration from R. Scott Rodin’s The Seventh Key, I’ve fallen in love with the concept that I own nothing, and I instead choose to steward all things in the best way I can.

For me, time is the hardest to let go of as owner and relinquish to God as a steward. I love a good productivity hack. Give me a task and I’ll figure out how to get two done at the same time. (Ever stretch your arms during a meeting? Read a book while eating a meal? Commute while listening to a sermon? Pray while doing chores? I’ve got a million of them.) After all, carpi diem; Seize the day because time is short.

In my need to control time, I’ve also lost the ability to relax and give my soul space to rest in God.

This concept of stewarding, and especially stewarding time, draws me to Haggai 1:7. I’m finding a subtle difference between thoughtfully planning my days and fully using all the productivity hacks I know, and carefully considering what I might do at the moment. The Owner might have different plans, and if I rush on to do what I have planned, I might miss the best to catch the good instead.

Not that productivity hacks are a bad thing. You’ll still catch me reading and eating at the same time. But perhaps you’ll catch me doing that as a delight-filled steward rather than a run-down owner.

So, this coming year I’m homing in on how to steward it all. To be free from ownership and instead be committed to being loving in the present moment is my priority. I want to be productive, and not to the detriment of my soul. I want to steward each aspect of my life well. And that includes my time.

How might you “give careful thought to your ways?” What do you expect would change in the new year if you fully lived out this verse? Share what you think on Facebook @HopelesslyHopefulBooks. https://www.facebook.com/HopelesslyHopefulBooks

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© 2021, Mollie Bond. All rights reserved. Originally published at www.molliebond.org.