Things Worth Quitting

Photo on Unsplash Encouraging People to Quit When Needed.

Some things are worth quitting. Not just the things you usually think about quitting like smoking, drinking, or drugs. Normal things are worth quitting too sometimes. Recently, I was reading a series that was consuming my life. The books ran almost 1000 pages each, and I only had three weeks to borrow them on my Kindle from the library. I lost sleep, stayed away from friends, and didn’t call my family all to finish these books. After book six, I considered if finishing the books was worth it. It wasn’t.

The books weren’t bad, but the time suck they created in my life pulling me from more important things indicated they weren’t the best use of my time. I spent an hour on Wikipedia reading how the series ended and felt satisfied. To listen to the audio version of all the books would take almost 20 days to hear – and that is without eating and sleeping! Not reading these books let me literally regaining weeks of my life. I don’t like quitting things, but it’s healthy to let go of things that aren’t worthwhile.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (NKJV). I only get one life. I want to redeem the time from idle works and walk wisely in the remainder of my life. Now I can call my brother and read Bible verses with him in the evenings and chat with my mom without being anxious that I’ll lose sleep to finish a book. I can invest my time in people that matter for eternity. Those conversations are worth infinitely more than checking a box of completing a series.

How about you? Do you have anything that God is calling you to quit? Are you missing out on good things using your time on things that don’t last? Maybe you are spending too much time on social media and missing out on fellowship with people in person. Just a word of caution. I am not admonishing anyone to quit their marriage or their job tomorrow. I am suggesting that if you do things that don’t bring life, you may need to stop. I pray that God will help you let go of anything you need to quit so you can embrace the abundant life He has for you.