Changi Chapel

Do you want to be productive?

Don’t get organized. Get enthralled. Get smitten. Get passionate about something God wants you to do.

Because, if you’re passionate, you will prioritize your time. If you’re dispassionate, you will dissipate your time.

John Piper explains a christian’s passion as holy ambition.

"Holy ambition" means something you really want to do that God wants you to do.

Something you want to do so much that doing it keeps you from doing other things that you also really like to do.

For example, Paul really wanted to go to Rome for years. But he didn’t go because he wanted something else more. He wanted to preach the gospel in Asia and Greece where people didn’t know about Jesus. He really, really, really wanted to do this. (Rom15: 18-24)"

We call that kind of desire an ‘ambition.’ And we call it ‘holy ambition’ when it is something God wants you to do. 

Jesus didn’t say much about organizing. He did say a lot about passion for what’s most important. 

Passion is a far better prioritizer than any productivity system. 

Organizing is to shuffle stuff. Godly productivity is to let go of stuff that God says is unimportant…. (Heb 12:1)

What will you do today?

Excerpted and adapted from the writings of Jon Bloom and John Piper
Desiring God Ministries,
Minneapolis, MN

Your comments, thoughts or suggestions are welcome. The body text is by the author, the header and the words in italics are mine – John B. Samuel