When God named some foundation stones for my life while embarking on ‘The Diamond Books’ project, he named one stone as being ‘acuity’.  I had to grab my dictionary to find out the meaning of this word and found out much to my amazement that it means mental alertness which I knew immediately was to do with my sleeping habits. God wanted me mentally alert so it has meant that I have had to discipline myself to go to bed early to get the sleep I need. However, I have a confession to make as sometimes I don’t keep to the routine God has set for me and then often I feel the sluggishness of my mind the following day. Oh to be more diligent!

Also, acuity implies keeping one’s brain active so I seek to eat the super foods that are able to boost the brain, e.g. milled flaxseed, sunflower seeds, blueberries, broccolli, blackcurrants and other wonderful foods God provides. However, again I have a confession to make as so easily I binge eat and have foods that are not good or helpful for my body to be in good shape which of course affects my mental capacity, too.

Then, there are the crosswords to do and Suduko and other challenging puzzles – all helpful to develop acuity. So the challenges continue.

It is only when I am abiding and resting in God’s finished work and realise that I cannot add to what Jesus has already done, that I can relax in his care and not have to eat unnecessarily or fritter time on the computer late at night (iPlayer particularly!). When I learn what God wants of me in a given day, I can complete the tasks he gives and then rest back knowing I’ve done what he wanted which is so incredibly satisfying. Walking and living in the Spirit of God is fabulous – there is nothing quite like it. He gives fulfilment. Then I can realise afresh that nothing happens by accident but by the design of the Creator who is weaving his purposes out even in writing books while pursuing the project he has given me to do.

However, Jesus our model didn’t always keep to a pattern with sleeping or eating. Sometimes he spent all night in prayer, sometimes he fasted and prayed but he seemed to have a daily pattern of rising early before it was light to have time with his Father God. How I need to put the regular priorities in place yet be available for when the Holy Spirit calls to do something differently from the usual pattern while numbering my days and redeeming the time.

How I need to be wholly obedient to my Maker’s instructions and be wise in going to bed early and eating properly. Then, he can have more access to my mind that I am told to love God with so that he can place within my thinking the ideas and creativity as well as reminders of what is needed in different parts of the project at different times as I learn to be sensitive to his leading.

Discipline is something we don’t talk too much about when it comes to training our children but the Bible speaks clearly about it (especially in the book of Proverbs) e.g. “Teach a child how he should live, and he will remember it all his life.” (Proverbs 22:6 – Good News Bible) So, let’s help our children to grow in acuity as they make choices along the way. Diamond Books can help with this.