Have you ever found yourself going through the motions, maybe days or even weeks just blurring together—routines and obligations making you feel like you're in a rut with no sense of purpose or joy in your days? Today, we're going to explore what Scripture says about living intentionally. And I'm not just talking about being productive or setting goals, but about intentionally seeking and finding the joy in life that God wants for us.
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Today, we are diving into the topic of living with intention—living with intention to find joy in life and to enjoy each day. And we’re looking at this from a biblical perspective.
Starting in Ephesians 5, it reads:
"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is."
Are we living like that—making the most of every opportunity of the day? And what does that really mean? A lot of us have jobs, responsibilities, and obligations. We may not always find joy in them. Some of us are lucky if we do. But are we just supposed to give all that up—all that security—so that we can "make the most of every opportunity"?
Let’s come back to the word live. "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise." In the Greek, that word translated as live is peripateo—which literally means to walk or to walk around. It implies how we are going about our lives, how we're walking through our reality, how we are conducting our lives—the way we approach our habits, our decisions, and our daily choices.
Paul, in Ephesians 5:15, is urging us to walk carefully—to do it with wisdom, not as unwise, and with awareness and intention. He’s talking about noticing the opportunities in our day and making use of them. It’s not about rushing through life, chasing after opportunities, or just grinding toward goals. It’s about pacing ourselves with purpose and being aligned with God’s will.
So, the first key from a biblical perspective is that intentional living begins with mindful walking. This is the way of the wise, and it is the opposite of the way of the unwise.
Then, Paul goes on to say, "because the days are evil." I believe what he is saying here is that if we are not intentionally careful with the way we go through life—our habits, our decision-making, our perspectives—then the days themselves will just take us along. They will pull us away from what is good. Some of us naturally lean toward the worst-case scenario. We focus too much on problems and on fixing things, instead of being mindful of the joy that God has for us in each day.
We want to look for the bits of good—the joy that God has for us in each day—because He is with us in and through each day.
Next, the Bible carries a theme that life itself is a gift, and we are to enjoy life as a gift. For this, we’re going to look in Ecclesiastes at the Hebrew word simchah—spelled simchah (s-i-m-c-h-a).
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 says:
"I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy (simchah) and to do good while they live, that each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil. This is the gift of God."
Are we eating, drinking, going about our days, doing what we normally do—but also finding satisfaction in it? I can't always say yes to that. But Scripture says that’s the gift of God! Finding satisfaction in the toil—in the hard things—that is His gift to us. Are we looking for it? Are we living for it? Are we finding both small and big purposes in our daily lives?
The Hebrew word simcha means joy, gladness, or delight, but it's not just surface-level happiness. It’s not just about having a good time. It’s a deep-rooted sense of joy that comes from recognizing life as a gift from God.
And interestingly, this verse in Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon—a man who experienced both the heights of success and the emptiness of chasing after meaningless pursuits. He went after things he thought would bring him joy, but they ended up leaving him empty—sometimes even in despair.
So, what was Solomon’s conclusion? The simple joys—the everyday eating and drinking, going to work, doing good, and looking for the good—those things are not to be overlooked or taken for granted. They are sacred gifts.
It reminds me of the saying, Happiness is the journey, not the destination. Living intentionally means that we pause to savor the blessings in life. And I promise you—they are there, every single day. We don’t rush past them in search of something more, something bigger, or something better to fulfill us. True happiness comes when we recognize the little joys right where we are.
And as I mentioned earlier, this is one of the things we’ll be doing together in the Online Women’s Connection Groups—helping each other practice this and holding each other accountable. Just to give you a little more information, each cohort will last for two to three months. We will go through this together, learning spiritual practices, prayer practices, and mindset shifts—practices that help us overcome depression, anxiety, and stress. Practices that help us keep the right perspective and thrive in our relationships.
If you’re living day-to-day feeling blah, feeling fearful, feeling anything but purposeful and joyful—if you’re not getting enough of that—then you’ll want to be part of this group. It is going to be transformative, and I cannot wait to start it.
So if you’re not on our email list, get on it! My websites are SherryElaine.com and GospelLifeLearning.com.
This was Part One of this topic on living with intention. Part Two will be coming out within the week.
Bye for now!
Gratefully,
Sherry