Resolution 5: Carpe Diem

5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

I've never learned latin.... I was a German and Spanish gal at school, so the number of latin phrases I know I can literally count on one hand... but of the few I do know, there's one that stands out... "Carpe Diem"; it means "Seize the day".

I first heard this phrase a few years back (probably more than I'd like to admit) on a fantastic, brilliant youth camp called Contagious. It was the last talk of a week long bible camp and the speaker was sending us out after all we'd learnt, and he finished with these two words... Carpe Diem.

"Seize the day"... literally - take it captive, live it with all your might, make the most of every moment. There are countless ways to verbalize the message behind these two little latin words, but I think "Seize the day" is probably the best translation. In this resolution, Edwards is calling us to live every moment purposefully.

I am a big faffer, and if there is anyone who would naturally fail at "seizing the day" it would have to be me. I am all about to-do-lists. Not because I'm hyper-organised, but because without them, I achieve nothing... literally nothing... so I have lists for everything - projects I would like to undertake if I ever get round to it, things I need to buy, monthly food plans, weekly cleaning schedules and my daily to-do-list. These aids are fantastic, and I'm gonna spend some time later this week talking through how I organize my life (ideas which I have COMPLETELY stolen from some VERY organised people - but if you find something good, you should share it, right?!) but ultimately they are purposeless if I'm not seizing the day for the glory of the God who made me - the one who created order, and that sense of satisfaction when you look back on your work and say "it is good".

God has set each one of us up in the life he has given us - the place, the people, the time... all perfectly orchestrated by him... and he's given us a life... one life... to make count. Not so that we become some super-immortalized celebrity, but so that in the hum-drum of our normal lives, we give glory to the one who made us to be in relationship with him.

Our society tells us that to make life count, we have to achieve a great name for ourselves... whether that be in job success, family legacy or fame... God says that to make life count, we have to achieve a great name for Him. Only then will we know true peace, satisfaction and joy as we "seize the day"