It's The Most Mind-Numbing Time of the Year

Before we got married, Andrea worked for a place called If It’s Paper. I am an office products junkie, in fact, when I go in Office Depot, I stay for hours. I just love that stuff . . . don’t know why, but I just do. I used to love to go visit her at If It’s Paper. The name was fitting, if it was made of paper, they sold it. Party products, plates, cups, napkins, table covers, stationery, copy paper, typing paper, wrapping paper, tissue paper, curling ribbon. Do you remember the scene from Forrest Gump where Bubba told Forrest about all the types of shrimp they cooked in his hometown? Well you could make an equally exhaustive list of the types of paper products in the store.

And paper is not all they had; they also had everything imaginable to use with paper – pens, pencils, markers, fasteners, report covers, binders, envelopes, correction fluid, rulers, protractors, compasses even balloons. . . you get the drift. In fact just reminiscing about the place gets my heart rate up. But after Christmas was the one time of year I made sure to steer clear of the place. The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day was the dreaded . . . INVENTORY WEEK. Every piece of paper, every paper clip, every pen, pencil, eraser, plate, napkin, and cup had to be counted. Everything in the store was counted, and it was a tedious task. Inventory can be a painstaking undertaking.

This time of the year affords us an opportunity to engage in a little inventory ourselves. While it does no good to recount and resurrect the minutiae of the past 365 days, we still are well served to take a look back and see how we have fared spiritually this year. Let me suggest some diagnostic questions to help us evaluate how much we have grown over the past year.

1. Am I closer to God today than I was 365 days ago? If yes, what factors have played a role in drawing me closer to Him? If no, what has cause me to drift away or stagnate in my spiritual growth?

2. In what ways have I seen the miraculous in my life this year?

3. Have I given adequate time to spiritual disciplines like Bible reading, prayer, solitude?

4. What would I say has driven me, motivated me, this year? A desire to satisfy myself? A family member? A boss or business contact? Or have I been motivated by a desire to please and obey God?

5. What have I let slip in my life this year? What have I strengthened?

A little retrospect does us well. As we evaluate, we learn and hopefully see where we can grow. We identify area of our lives where we want God to help us. Set aside some time as this year winds down to take inventory in the spiritual stock room of your heart. It will prove to be time well spent.

Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

Psalm 90:12