On average, if you ask people – on a scale of 0 to 10 – how happy, how contented are you with your life, they’ll give you a six. Six out of ten! Is that any way to live the one life you’ve been given?!

The reality is that most of us, well we just kind of bobble along through life. We don’t think too much about it except perhaps the bits that may not be working so well at the moment. We’re all pretty good at brooding over that difficult relationship or what so-and-so might think about us; what they might be saying behind our backs. We’re all pretty good at worrying about our finances or our children or complaining about the fact that someone who, in our estimation is nowhere near as competent as we are, was promoted ahead of us at work.

Whatever it is we are very good at complaining and the other thing that we’re pretty good at is comparing ourselves to others. Oh she’s so much better looking. He’s so much smarter. Why can’t I do what that person can do? And so the list goes on.

But when it comes to strategically thinking about our lot in life – what’s working, what’s not working – am I satisfied with where my life is headed and if not what do I need to change? Well come on, let’s be honest most of us don’t think that way.

You have to ask yourself, why is that? With just one life to live here on planet earth why is it that we’re so good focusing on the negative things, in effect the problems, instead of what we need to do to make things better, the solution.

Well that nagging sense of dissatisfaction that many people live their whole lives with normally revolves around one of four things:

Firstly, a lot of people aren’t satisfied with who they are. Secondly, sometimes we can be like a square peg in a round hole doing things that we’re not meant to be doing. Thirdly, if an important relationship isn’t working, that tends to make us really dissatisfied with life.
And finally, sometimes people aren’t satisfied with what they have. Let me summarise those four again:

Number one, who we are.
Number two, what we’re doing.
Number three, who we’re with.
Number four, what we have.

Let’s come back to that question I posed at the beginning: on a scale of one to ten how satisfied are you with your life here and now today? I wonder what your answer is. I ask that question rather a lot when I’m speaking with groups of people not just around Australia but in fact right around the world and can I tell you with a degree of certainty that is very high the average response is about six out of ten.

And you know what makes that really scary for me is that most often I ask that question of Christians when I’m speaking at Churches. And so here’s a group of people who claim to have hit on the truth about life, who claim to have all the answers and yet even for them the average is a paltry six out of ten in terms of how satisfied they are with their lives.

Let’s say your response is pretty much bang on average, you’re a six out of ten, is that really any way to live your life – this life that’s been given to you; this life that is so incredibly precious? Come on I’m asking you to think about your life here and now. If your level of contentment and satisfaction is a six out of ten is that how you want to live the rest of your days here on this earth?

I’m going to challenge you today to think about a new start, a fresh start, a fresh look at your life. Not just to moan and groan about the things that aren’t working but to think honestly about the things that are robbing you on average of 40% of your contentment and doing something about it.

Firstly – who you are? A lot of people aren’t comfortable with who they are. Sometimes that’s because we have a distorted view of things but other times it’s because we’re not living a good life. Dishonesty for instance has a way of robbing you of your levels of contentment.

Either way whether it’s our attitudes about ourselves or our actions that are causing us to be unhappy with who we are, are you just going to sit there and let it go on for the rest of your life or are you going to do something about it? Well?

And that leads us kind of to the second area of discontentment, what we’re doing with our lives. So many people are square pegs in round holes. In other words they’re doing things, working away at jobs that they were never cut out to do.

Surveys consistently show that over two thirds don’t enjoy their jobs. They become accountants when they don’t enjoy working with numbers. They become carers looking after the elderly when they don’t enjoy people contact. So if that’s you are you going to spend the rest of your life working at something you were never ever going to be able to enjoy, something that you never ever going to be able to excel at?

The third area of contentment is relationships. Marriage is the obvious one. So many married couples start off happy and then the cares of the world, the pressures of children, the mortgage and the daily grind wears down their relationship until they’re married in name only.

I have a beautiful wife, Jacqui, who I love very much yet still the grind of life conspires to attack and wear down our relationship which is why we’re about to go and have a few days off together to restore and refresh and to just enjoy each other. How many people live in relationships that should be great, that could be great but never do anything about it?

And finally some people aren’t content with what they have either because they’re always comparing themselves with other people and that’s an attitude thing or because they don’t apply themselves and work hard enough at doing something they’re really cut out to do.

So which ever of those four areas in your life is robbing you of your satisfaction and contentment here’s my question, in fact my challenge to you at the beginning of this year is this, are you just going to sit there or are you going to do something about it? Well?

A Scripture that I love to come back to time and time again is one that provides a complete executive summary of how to get some of these things sorted out in our lives, how to get our ducks in a row so to speak. Its Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10 in the New Testament which says that we are

God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do the good works that he prepared beforehand for us to walk into.

So firstly we are who God made us to be, hand crafted by Him, His workmanship and secondly in making us in that certain way with our natural gifts and strengths and talents and motivations on the one hand and our natural limitations on the other He did so with a very specific end in mind.

He made each one of us to do the good works that He already prepared beforehand, way beforehand, even before time began, literally so that as we take each new step in life we can walk into the good things that God has already prepared for us, the good things that are a perfect fit with who He made us to be.

What’s the matter with us? We’re not happy with who we are, we’re not happy with what we’re doing, we’re not happy with our relationships and our resources, why do we run around in ever decreasing circles at an average satisfaction level of only six out of ten?

Why would we want to spend the rest of our lives living like that when all we really need to do is to get close to Jesus and to figure out who He made us to be and what He made us to do? Friend you are Gods workmanship, you are created in Christ Jesus to do all the fantastic things that He’s already prepared for you to walk into.

Most of us get up every day and live out the same old, same old day after day. And whilst we might have a few niggles here and there, we really don’t think too much about it. And that’s why many a person’s life – maybe your life – is just drifting.

So do you enjoy sailing? I don’t, I’d much rather be on the land than on the water. Nevertheless let’s put ourselves back in that drifting boat for just a moment, out there on this massive great ocean. No sails up, no rudder in, it’s frankly no way to get to where you’re going and eventually unless we do something about it we’re just going to die out there on the water.

With the oceans covering 71% of the earths surface and with the way the tides and the currents travel the chances of making landfall is somewhere between Buckley’s and none. Yep, stay in that boat, keep the rudder out of the water, the sails off the mast and eventually you’re going to die.

I don’t know how many people die out there on the oceans each year but as a percentage of the world’s population you’d have to imagine that it’s a very, very small number. The tragic thing is that back here on dry land many people, way too many people are living their lives that way, they’re just drifting aimlessly.

And on top of that they’re expectation is they should actually get to where they want to go. Don’t believe me? Last night on the news they interviewed a sixteen year old girl who had had triplets. Now she and her boyfriend were both unemployed, relying on the government to keep them afloat.

When the interviewer asked them whether they planned on getting a job they answered, “No.” They’re plan was to have more children, they’re plan was to rely on the government to support them. Now that’s by no means an isolated case. Extreme? Yes, but not unusual.

Whether it’s in our lives or in our jobs drifting aimlessly along is not a recipe for success. Now I’m not suggesting that we should all be chasing after success, the big house, the big car, the big salary and nor am I suggesting that all the positive outcomes in our lives have everything to do with hard work alone but there are many people just drifting their way through life wondering why nothing’s happening, wondering why they’re not getting to where they want to go.

This week being the beginning of a new year, we’ve kicked off a series of messages that I’ve called, ‘The Art Of Living’. It’s about being deliberate in planning and living our lives here on earth. One of the big mistakes I see people making, can I say particularly amongst Christians that I have so much to do with, is that they somehow over-spiritualise their existence.

“Well you know, it’s in God’s hands, I have to wait for Him to do everything.” Others might rely on something else, on karma or whatever. And look, please don’t get me wrong I am a Christian, I believe in God, I believe in Jesus and I know that many of the big things that have happened in my life have happened not because of any brilliance or hard work on my part but because of God’s mighty hand was on it from the beginning.

But I also know that laziness doesn’t bear fruit. Have a listen to this. Proverbs chapter 19, verse 15:

Laziness brings on a deep sleep and a idle person will suffer from hunger.

Proverbs chapter 24, verses 30 to 34:

I passed by a field of someone who is lazy, by the vineyard of a stupid person and it was all over grown with thorns. The ground was covered with nettle’s and it’s stone wall was broken down. Then I saw it and considered it, I looked and I received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed warrior.

I don’t know where you’re at in life but bear with me here. Imagine that God is God, that He loves us like a Father – would you expect this God to bless laziness; to bless idleness; to bless a lack of planning, a lack of vision, a lack of a sense of direction? The answer is kind of, well self evident.

We live in a world of cause and effect. Planning, diligence, hard work, application, dedication, focus, persistence – those things tend to yield good results a lot of the time. Idleness, laziness – those things tend to yield bad results most of the time.

Let’s come back to that boat that we were drifting in at the beginning of today’s program. If your life is like being in that boat I’m going to ask you a question here, you might not like it but I’m going to ask you anyway. Whose fault is that?

We can blame our parents, our circumstances, our education or lack of it, our looks, our physical weaknesses, maybe even our disabilities but none of those things really cut it do they? If your life is drifting the buck stops with you. If my life is drifting the buck stops with me. It’s as simple as that.

We’ve all seen people with incredible disabilities achieve amazing things haven’t we? And we’ve all seen people who are born into a fantastic family, had plenty of money, had good looks and brains to go with it, make a complete hash of their lives.

No, it’s not our circumstances that determine the direction our life is going to head. Look at Nelson Mandella, look at Mother Theresa, look at Mahatma Ghandi and look at the dozens of ordinary people that you know in your life who’ve achieved extraordinary things despite their circumstances. No it has nothing to do with our circumstances and frankly adversity is no excuse.

If your life is drifting it seems to me you have a couple of options. Option one: just let it drift on by and one day you are going to die out there on that ocean in that drifting boat. Option number two: is doing something about it; deciding here and now that the status quo, this life of endless drifting is simply no longer an option.

That life can’t go on like this. It’s time to actually do something about it! It’s time for a new start, a new beginning and what better time than the beginning of a new year to come to that decision.

My friend, if your life is drifting the buck stops with you and it’s time for you to do something about it. The alternative, well the alternative is getting to the end of your days here on this earth and looking back on a life long missed opportunity. That’s not such a happy thought is it?

And let’s just take that one step further. You may remember the Parable of the Talents that Jesus told of the three servants each left a huge amount of money by their master to invest in order to get a return. Two of those servants did really well.

On the masters return they each gave him the original capital plus 100% return and those guys got a huge pat on the back but one of the servants, he was afraid so he hid the money to keep it safe. He returned the original capital to the master when he came back but without a dividend.

Now maybe you think the master should have been happy because at least he got his capital back but listen to what Jesus says:

You wicked and lazy slave. You knew did you that I reap where I didn’t sow, I gathered where I didn’t scatter. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and on my return I would have received what was mine with interest.

So take the money from him, give it to the one who has a lot of money for to all those who have more will be given and they will have abundance but from those who have nothing even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(Matthew chapter 25:26-30)

Jesus doesn’t mince His words. He’s made a huge investment in our lives, in your life and He expects us to live our lives in such a way as to deliver a huge return. He’s not calling us to live a life of missed opportunities and excuses; He’s calling us to live a life that counts. No ifs, no buts, no maybes.

Most people are pretty good at telling you what’s wrong with their life – come on, we don’t mind having a bit of a whinge. But those same people, often, aren’t very good at doing anything about it. So – what’s your objective for this year? What do you want to change?

Over many years one of the things that I’ve done a lot of is to consult to businesses large and small and government agencies across Australia, across New Zealand and in fact around the world. I guess it would be probably be over three hundred organisations that I’ve worked for in the past twenty years in one capacity or another.

And when you’re involved in a business or in a government agency one of the things you do a lot of is you go to meetings. Now some organisations more than others but nevertheless it can seem sometimes you’re going from one meeting to the next all day long and in many of those organisations they sit there, they talk about all sorts of things for hours but at the end no one agrees on any action points.

What needs doing? Who’s going to do each one? What’s the deadline? Now you’d think the whole point of a meeting is to get things done, in a lot of organisations that simply not what happens and so there’s a lot of discussion, often people feel great after having talked things through but nothing gets done.

You’d have to think to yourself, well that’s pretty much a waste of time and money and you’d be right, it is yet this madness isn’t restricted to large organisations, you see people running their lives in exactly the same way.

Now that might surprise you but just stop and think about it, people complain, let’s say it’s a wife complaining about her husband: (I always find that interesting) He doesn’t listen to me, he doesn’t understand how I feel, he doesn’t talk to me after he comes home from work, I don’t think he loves me anymore. Or a husband complaining about his wife: oh she’s always nagging at me, I feel hen pecked, it’s driving me absolutely crazy, I can’t stand it anymore.

Have you ever heard those words spoken by a wife or a husband? Have you ever been guilty of doing the same? And sometimes this whinging and complaining goes on for years with no improvement or resolution. It’s just like those meetings I was telling you about – people talking, talking, talking but never doing anything about it.

Why, you have to ask yourself, is that? It’s just because, because that’s what people do, that’s how people behave. We’re good at talking about things, we’re not so good, some of us, when it actually comes to doing something about it.

If I could take you back to those meetings with my clients one of the men who I’ll never forget is a man called, Mick McShea. He was a senior manager in a government organisation where, well to be honest, they had lots of meetings where nothing much happened.

But when Mick ran a meeting things always happened because at the end of the meeting he’d hop up, grab a pen and go to the white board and draw a table with three columns. The first column was ‘what needed to be done’, the second column was ‘who’, who was responsible for doing it and the last column was ‘when’, what was the due date of the action to be completed.

And he would always make sure that the first three tasks on the table were allocated to him. In other words as we used to say in military, he was a leader who lead from the front, he lead by example. Yeah whenever Mick ran a meeting things would get done.

It’s about deciding to take action and then taking the responsibility to get the job done. A wife who feels misunderstood could think about asking an older woman with wisdom and experience what she could do. She could talk to her husband about it and try to understand his perspective. They can work together to modify their behaviour, to empathise with one another, to draw close to one another again. That would be great wouldn’t it?

But often we don’t do those things because we’re like those people who like to go to meetings without any intention whatsoever of achieving anything unless of course someone else does the heavy lifting. Is any of this new? Is any of this rocket science? Not really, it’s as old as the hills. Have a listen to how Jesus put it:

Everyone who hears my words and acts on them would be like a wise man who built his house on a rock because when the rain fell floods came and the winds blew and they beat on that house but it didn’t fall because it had been founded on a rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and how great was it’s fall.

Now when Jesus had finished saying these things the crowds were astounded at his teaching for he taught them as someone having authority not as their Scribe. (Matthew chapter 7: 24-27)

He had a lot of really wise things to say did Jesus but here’s what He’s saying to us in effect. Look don’t just come along to hear me speak and to be entertained, take what I’m talking about into your hearts and actually get out there and start doing it because it’s going to make a huge difference to your life.

Hey maybe that’s where Nike got their strap line, “Just do it!” Who knows?

You know some of the things that need sorting out in your life, whether it’s you own sense of self worth, whether it’s the job that you’re in, whether it’s an important relationship that you need to work on, whether it’s some of the things that you know you’re doing in your life, some of the attitudes that you’re carrying around that you just know are plain wrong.

Are you just going to sit there and talk about it and whinge about it and blame someone else about it or are you going to do something about it? Well? I suggest you could do a lot worse than adopt what I’ve come to call the McShea method. Who does what by when and take the first three tasks and own them for yourself? Own them, set a goal, set an objective and then start doing the things that you need to do to get there.

By the end of the year I’ll … whatever it is and then you can get focused on the things that you are going to do to make it happen. Now this is pretty basic but it’s incredibly powerful. Of course there are going to be some things that you can’t do on your own but set that goal and get started with some doing and I guarantee you’ll be amazed at the changes that start to happen in your life.

Now does God bless hard work and dedication and perseverance? You bet you He does. Please don’t get me wrong, God is a God of grace and forgiveness and mercy and we don’t have to do one single thing to work our way into His favour, that’s not what I’m saying at all.

But you read anything in the Bible, just read even a few chapters that you care to pick at random in the New Testament let’s say, and you can’t miss the focus on perseverance and dedication to the task. Again have a listen to this; it comes from a New Testament letter, the Book of James chapter 1, verses 22 to 25:

But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers they are like those who look at themselves in the mirror, for they look at themselves and on going away they immediately forget what they were like but those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty and persevere being not just hearers who forget but doers who act they will be blessed in their doing.

So, what do you think? Need some important breakthroughs in your life? Need a fresh start in this area or that area of your life? I’m very much about praying, I’m very much for talking it through with God, for seeking His leading, absolutely but there comes a time when we have to step out and start doing it.

What is it that you’re trying to achieve? Okay, got that clear? That’s where God wants you to head. Now who does what by when? Remember it; it’s called the McShea method.