It’s the end of week three of the fall semester of my senior year of college at Cedarville University and it’s already a battle for me to make time for what’s most important.

For me, the school year begins with so much optimism. I tell myself:

“I’m going to work out consistently this semester!”

“I’m going to prioritize time in God’s Word!”

“I’m going to invest in my relationships this school year!”

“I’m going to do better about calling my mom and keeping in touch with family!”

Even more than on New Year’s Day, it’s the time where I pause to evaluate the past school year and decide how I want the next one to be different.

I dream big, set goals, and promise myself (and others) I’ll do better about actually achieving them.

But guess what happens next? Nothing.

Has this ever happened to you?

You make a goal or recognize that something in your life needs to be changed, but then you don’t actually make the changes necessary to get there?

Sure, if my goal is to get in better shape, I might go to the gym for a couple of weeks. But then I get busy, work starts piling up, I feel exhausted and tell myself, I just don’t have time.

That’s happened to me over and over again throughout my life. But what I’ve found is that if you truly want to do something, if it is really that important to you, you will make time for it.

If your priorities are not on your calendar and lived out in your daily life, then those things are not your priorities.

So if you say that your top priority is your relationship with God, check your schedule. Does it reflect that? Do you have protected time to spend in God’s Word?

If a top priority for you in this season is to spend more time building meaningful relationships, does your calendar reflect that? Do you have specific time set aside to work on cultivating those relationships?

And if your goal this year is to live a healthier lifestyle by changing your eating habits or hitting the gym a certain number of times a week, do you have time set aside for that? Do you actually want to go to the gym and eat healthier or are you only just saying that?

Even more importantly, if you have protected time on your calendar for these things, do you actually live your life that way?

You see, when we start arranging our schedule around our priorities instead of trying to squeeze our “would be priorities” into an already full schedule, that’s when we will finally feel free to do the things that are truly important.

So what is important to you? Take a look at your schedule. Does it reflect what you say are your priorities? Because if not, you either need to change up your schedule, or reevaluate what you believe to be important.

Taking this a step further, is your relationship with God truly the top priority in your life?

Because if not, all of this striving towards achieving goals and making life changes…

It’s pointless.

Why?

Because Jesus Christ is the only source of true satisfaction and fulfillment. He is the one that we must seek first in our lives each day. And if we don’t get that right, everything else we work so hard for is in vain.

No matter how many goals you achieve, no matter how productive your life is, no matter how successful you are in the eyes of the world, it will never be enough if you aren’t pursuing Christ above all else.

And so, as you seek to be a good steward of your time–because in reality, it is not your own–remember the One who gave you life and breath. Remember the one who gave you the gifts, talents, and resources that you have and ask yourself, “Am I living life the way that God would want me to live?”

If you laid out your calendar before the throne of God today and said, “God, what would you have me prioritize today?” what would he put on your schedule? How would He organize your time?

Think through your priorities. Do they align with what God’s Word tells us is important? Do they include building an intimate relationship with your Savior?

Now, take a look at your calendar. What does it say about what is important to you? What changes can you make and actually live out that would help you realign your priorities with God’s priorities?

I am by no means perfect at this. In fact, I’m really bad at it. But I’m learning and I’m right here with you! God has been working on my heart for a long time now and pointing out things that I need to surrender to Him. One of those things is my time.

Maybe that’s you too? If so, take some time to do a heart check and calendar check. Offer your schedule to the Lord this week and pray “God, my time is yours, show me how to use it in a way that glorifies your Name.”

Will you join me?