Last week we used our Friday essay to discuss the perennial problem one writer calls "the tyranny of the urgent." We learned to begin each day with Jesus in control of our lives, and to trust him to guide us to significance rather than stress. This week I'd like us to complete that thought, in the most practical ways possible.

Let's begin with a diagnostic question: do you live by a calendar and a clock, or a compass?

Some of us are governed by our calendars. We keep them at our desks, hang them on our walls, or carry them in our pockets. We record them with pencils or computers. And every day we do what they tell us to do. They run our lives, with the help of our clocks. On the wall or our wrists, the clock tells us when to do what the calendar tells us to do.

I am as much a slave to my calendar and clock as anyone I know. But this morning I announce to you that I repent of their lordship over my life, and choose to live instead by a compass. And so should you.

There is only one "true north" in the Christian life. Only one purpose which will direct your life with unerring accuracy, which will guide you home every single time. We're going to find it today. You and I will need to remember and live by this purpose, this "true north" every day for the rest of this year, and especially as we draw nearer to the hectic holidays ahead. Otherwise, we'll die the death of a thousand Chihuahuas, one tiny bite at a time.