What rules your schedule — the urgent or the important? The two are often not the same. The “urgent” clamors for your attention, demands your time … yet may not hold a vital place in the true scheme of things. The “important,” on the other hand, genuinely requires your attention, time, presence, and energy.

Consider a silly example from home life. What kind of urgent things might demand your attention, even though they can’t claim supreme importance? Maybe a shaggy lawn, a noisy washing machine, a stained carpet, a new deck. Every one of them might yell for your time. But are any of them vitally important, on a par with your kids, your spouse, your parents, your God?

To find true satisfaction in life, how do we determine the identity of the “important things”? Those determinations often come easier for us Christians because we have the guidance of God’s Word and the indwelling Holy Spirit. I think everything a Christian does should be geared toward the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). When you’re a Christian, everything you do – whether you’re a doctor, a teacher, a factory worker, a stay-at-home mom, a sales clerk - everything takes on meaning if your chief goal is to help fulfill the Great Commission. Then everything you do has importance, purpose and meaning.

This is Luis Palau.