The predictions of the Bible have always been fascinating to me.  Not so much that I spend all my time looking for a sign (Jesus said that’s what an evil generation does), but enough to know where are we at in God’s timeline.

Yesterday, I was reading in 2 Timothy 3 where Paul predicts what people will love in the last days: themselves, money and pleasure.  Wow!  Does that describe America or what?  There’s not much that can get in our way of loving ourselves, spending and thrill seeking.  So much so, we will often ignore the bigger items of life and settle for an incessant search for self fulfillment.

How do we know if we are what the Bible describes as “last day lovers”?  Here’s a little test to help diagnose where you fall.

Lovers of Themselves:  do you consistently think of yourself more than others?  When is the last time you went out of your way and gave of your time to serve others in Christ’s name?  Do you volunteer on a regular basis?

Lovers of Money:  do you give a percentage of your income regularly to further God’s kingdom causes?  Do you give to God’s work first and then save and live on the rest?

Lovers of Pleasure:  do you schedule time to enjoy God, His people, and His cause, or is it more about what you want to do?  Do you think of your time as your time, instead of living as a manager of God’s time?  Have you gotten to the level where you are thrilled about God’s work in the lives of others more than your own thrills?

Maybe you can tell from this little test if you fall into the category of last day lovers, or if your part of the remnant that Jesus is coming back to receive.

Motivational speakers are good at providing energy for doing things with excellence.  Sports teams will hire guests to come in and provide a pep talk to the squad about reaching a new dimension this season, achieving our potential and winning a championship.  Businesses pay big dollars to send employees to seminars that will inspire them to hit sales goals they’ve never reached before.

I applaud anything that inspires people to go further in their lives than they would on their own – bring it on!

A motivator for achieving personal excellence is the good that will come into your life and the lives of others as a result.  However, if you are a Christ follower, the Bible shares another reason to reach for your best effort:  God’s glory.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Therefore, in addition to all the great personal reasons to live life with excellence, keep in mind that we are giving an opportunity for glory to go to God.  And, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

You may not be into fitness, but experts say that you’ll be better off as you age by investing in your core.  What exactly is core training?  It is building up the muscles that support your spine and help with balance.  Two very important areas.  The idea is that you build up the entire area that supports the spine, so that the burden of supporting your body weight isn’t just placed on your bones.

Besides our physical bodies, what are some other core areas where we need to be paying attention?  Faith, family, our minds, spirits, soul, thoughts, finances, marriages, and ministries are some I thought about.

So, just like there are core exercises to strengthen your physical core, what are some things you can do for these other areas?  Read the Bible, meditate (on Scripture), pray, eat dinner as a family (without devices and only dialogue), listen to worship tunes, attend church regularly, work a plan for getting out of debt, establish a regular date night, discover, develop and deploy your spiritual giftedness, build margin in your life.

Hope this got you thinking about ways to invest in your core – in all areas.  Make it happen!