a clean life

My experiences of 24 years help to form the current desires of my heart:

To hear God, to learn, to obey, over all;
And to love, and to exist for the benefit of others.

(Tell me, what other great pursuits exist in life?)

Distractions simply distract, from these things. Though one can't ever "arrive" by eliminating tangible distractions, it helps to have less to consider.

• I want to have a clean, simple space, with few distractions, so I can breathe.
• A place to sit with my legs folded, so I can think.
• A desk to sit at (preferably one that doesn't tire me), so my hands can work.
   
• Books to read, to learn from.
• A computer with which to create, to communicate, to do.
• Musical instruments. (I'm still discovering what to do with these...)
• A deep, clear understanding of priority; God is at the top and my life should reflect so.
• A deep, clear understanding of my finances, because God has tasked me to do well. (Matthew 25:14-30; and yes, I understand I'm taking this "literally", but there are many meanings to be had in these words, all of which should be heeded! Note the beauty of verse 23: "Enter into the joy of your lord.")

Oh, and time. I want to learn how to earn time.

I want to be more able to think, then I want to think more about producing "fruit", and then I want to produce more.

I fear that many Christians have an incorrect understanding. We think we can use words to do good things (some might also say "the will of God"), to help people, to save people. Meanwhile we are at least somewhat unaware that it is the meaning (which our words are attempting to explain) that inspires a change, not the words themselves.

We share with someone a truth, and they don't understand ("get") it, don't accept it. We conclude that it must be their hang-up, their fault. We have some sort of emotional reaction and then move on.

At some point, repeatedly observing ourselves, our own attempts or the (sometimes outrageous/hypocritical/non-sensical) attempts of others to speak words of Truth, we decide to give up on communicating this whole God thing and forget about the eternity of others. We end up right where Satan wants us, in complacency.

But The Truth is written in meaning, not words. God did not just leave us with a book that says "follow me", nor did He stop at "I love you". He sent Jesus to convey the meaning of Truth through action; the way He lived and the things He did, both of which accurately speak The Truth.

Don't you remember your mother telling you that your actions "speak" (!) louder than words? How about we first just understand that "actions speak". I would argue further that "life speaks"; something is communicated by simply how we live.

Words from the mouth of a person can only mean what their life does, or they are lies, hypocrisy.

My idea is to stop and allow God to saturate myself. I believe (in faith) that appropriate behavior will simply follow.