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A couple of months ago I started signing my e-mails using the closing “Enjoy!” I probably meant it somewhat sarcastically the first few times I did it…as in “Here’s the 50 page draft for you to review. Enjoy! Sandy” But after doing it a few times I decided I liked it and I began to use it regularly. Somewhere along the line something changed! I realized that I wasn’t telling them to enjoy their document, I was telling them to enjoy life and I was telling myself to enjoy God. Now almost every time I close a business e-mail I sign off “Enjoy” and I think “Enjoy God, enjoy life!” It makes me smile even when I’ve been at my desk for ten hours and I’ve written twenty e-mails.

My e-mail sign-off is just one of the things I surround myself with that remind me of God. I have a plaque on my desk that says something like “Autograph your work with excellence.” Every time I read it I think “Autograph your work with excellence because you are a reflection of God to those around you.”

Life gets busy and it’s easy to lose our focus. Life gets harried and it’s easy to get frustrated or discouraged. Life gets challenging and it’s easy to become overwhelmed or defeated. Surrounding ourselves with things that help focus our attention on what’s truly important keep us grounded, faithful and joyful.

In Deuteronomy 6 Moses told the people to tie the commandments of the Lord “as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:8-9, NIV)

Wear the Lord’s commands as jewelry so that you are always reminded of what’s important and true and right. Put the Lord’s commands in places where you will see them often so that your focus is on Him, not on the chaos and busyness around you. It’s the same concept. The difference perhaps is that I’m not specifically encouraging you to surround you with Scripture because many of us life and/or work in environments where that’s not advisable. No matter what environment you live and work in, however, you can place things that turn your focus on Christ and what He’s done for you.

Here are just a couple of ideas:

• Wear some piece of jewelry that reminds you of your covenant with the Lord. We wear wedding rings to remind us (and others) of our covenant with our spouse. Wear a ring, bracelet or necklace that says to you “I belong to Jesus.”
• Many non-religious photos can turn our thoughts toward the Lord. It could be anything form a beautiful flower or waterfall to a geometric image that reminds you of infinity. The nature photo can remind of how awesome our Creator is. An infinity image can take your thought so the “foreverness” of God or remind you that you will spend eternity with Him.
• Many motivation posters have biblical themes. We have three in our office that remind me that I my purpose is bigger than the work I do. (Be careful to avoid those that encourage doing it all on your own effort – it’s not about us, it’s about God.)
• Scents are powerful memory joggers. If there is a scent that reminds you of an encounter with God, use that scent in your environment.

Use props to keep your focus on the Lord throughout the day. It will make a difference in your day. I promise!

What kind of props do you use? Comment below or on our Facebook page.

Have a great week!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 at 10:48 pm and is filed under Attitude, Blessed Life, Christian Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.