Do you want your life to count forever?
You can know that it will if you’ll follow three steps.

1. Make sure you’re on the right road.
2. Think Different
3. Use your life to build something eternal.

~ A beautiful path can still be a road to nowhere ~

Is this a picture of your life right now?
It looks like you’re headed toward something awesome,
something spectacular, but it’s a dead end.
You can’t really get anywhere on this path.
Not anywhere you’d actually want to be.
Not in the place you want your journey to end.

Sometimes we need to pull over and turn off the engine.
Turn off Auto-pilot and check our internal compass.
And ask the simple question, “where am I headed”?
Life can feel like navigating a maze.
A little altitude correction can help you see things more clearly.
So do what you have to to get to higher ground and gain perspective.
Pray and meditate on the Scriptures, or talk to someone you respect who knows you fairly well and will share honestly.
Check the trajectory of your life over the past months and year.
Are you heading in the right direction to get where you ultimately want to be?

We all get a little lost now and then.
If you need directions or a new route calculated from your present position: God has the answers for you.

Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.
Psalm 143:8

~ Think Different ~

This became a corporate mantra for Apple, but we all need to Think Different.

Think about the then not the now
Think about others not ourselves
Think about what lasts not what’s new
Think about changing the world not changing the channel
Think about rewards not sacrifices
Think about investing not spending
Think about giving not getting
Think about making a difference not making an impression
Think about the end
Think about the after
Think about the forever

Now is the time to think different.
After is too late.
Life is messy and chaotic, but it should never, never, ever be unintentional.

~ Use your life to build something eternal ~

The Romans built an Empire, but what remains is mostly ruins.

I intend something lasting.
Something eternal.

The soul is eternal.
So I invest in souls.
My own and the souls of others.

The word of God is eternal.
So I invest in the Scriptures.
I put a lot of time and energy and intellectual effort into reading, studying, and meditating on the word of God.
I believe it is God’s revelation of Himself and His plan.
I care about God and His plan, so I take it in.
I want to be part of His plan, so I take it in.

having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
1 Peter 1:23-25

This part of life, the part we see right now is brief.
It withers as grass.
The glory of men fades fast.
All that’s left is ruins, like statues without faces or inscriptions.

That’s not enough for me.
Call me ambitious, but I want to know that the way I live my life, the things I invest my life in, the everyday choices I make will matter forever.

Today is the last day of 31 Days 2013.
Proverbs 31 closes with two thoughts about this woman.

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:30-31

She doesn’t resort to charm.
She doesn’t rely on her beauty.
She fears the LORD and it results in deserved praise.

What her life produces is lasting.
And she’ll enjoy the reward of her labors.

Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that God is a rewarder of those that seek Him.
Jesus told us to lay up treasure in heaven.
To send it on ahead to a place where it wouldn’t be stolen, or wouldn’t decay.
He promised that when He returned His reward would be with Him in His hand.
Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace, but God goes further.
God always goes further.
He offers us each a chance to participate in His plan here and now and when we do, He promises an eternal reward.

I know many people think this is just for missionaries or pastors, but it’s not.
Jesus remarked on the widow’s mite.
He pointed out her sacrifice as an example to the disciples.
He spoke of treasure in heaven but in the context of what we ‘invest in’ by faith during this life.

Keep investing your life in others.
In your husband, in your children, in other family and friends, and those at work and church, or in your town or city.
Your every day choices can have eternal consequences and lasting results.
Think about how the things you do play a part in building God’s kingdom.
Even a cup of cold watered, offered in His love, will be remembered and rewarded.

Blogging can be lonely business, but I feel like I’ve been getting acquainted with a new friend each day this month as I’ve been writing about this dynamic woman described in Proverbs 31.
The month was not without it’s own trials.
For the first time ever my iMac hard drive crashed.
But I’m learning how to transfer data in little bits from the old HD to a brand new one.
Also, the Optometrist discovered it wasn’t my prescription that was off, I have a macular hole and so surgery is scheduled for Nov. 4th.

I didn’t post 31 posts as I had hoped, but I really enjoyed this challenge.

If you’re interested you can find the entire list of posts on the Proverbs 31 Woman here: https://kellyjgrace.com/2013/09/30/31-days-2013-31-days-of-blogging/