What's on your notice board? Is there too much clutter

This morning I have been sorting out a few bits and trying to get organised.

I looked at my notice board in the kitchen and thought it looked quite cluttered with lots of bits of paper.

I was astonished that I had not touched this noticed board since September last year. Instead of taking old pieces of paper and throwing them away, I had just been plastering more and more information on to it to the point that I could not see all the important information.

This got me thinking. Do we do this with our lives - do we constantly pressure ourselves to do lots and lots of things, do we clutter our lives with things that are not necessary because we don't feel we should say no or because we can't resist the offer?

As I uncovered all the old pieces of information I wondered how long do we keep things in our lives that we don't really need anymore or how long do we serve in a ministry when we are really needed somewhere else and someone else could be more useful/fruitful in the position we are in? 

It's funny isn't it how little things like this can get us thinking - what do you feel clutters up your life and how can you make life easier for yourself, do you need to search deeper into your heart and ask God what needs changing?.

I know the last few weeks I have been thinking of doing what I am naturally good at and how I can serve God in that way. There is no point in forcing something that you are not going to be fruitful in it's just wasting your time and God's time.

 I am going to have to 'die to self'  in the next year even if it means giving up the things I love so that God can use me in other ways, it's going to be hard though!!!

 Only you though know where you are in life, why not sit and think the next week how you can think about the new year ahead how you can walk in the Spirit and be One with God in what He wants for your life, and declutter anything you don't think is being fruitful or being used for His Glory.

Here is a verse I thought was encouraging. 

“Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me’” (Luke 9:23).¹