Give Careful Thought to Your Ways

When it comes to surveys, I am a glutton. I can’t take enough of them. I don’t know if they are a stroke to my ego, making me feel like my opinions actually matter. I don’t know if it’s the feeling of satisfaction I receive in helping to shape psychology, entertainment, restaurant service, or whatever realm a particular survey might be rooted in. I believe this love affair started in college. Taking a couple classes in statistics introduced me to the importance of assessment. How can anything be tailored to a population without data gathered from that population? How can problems be solved without properly evaluating the problems themselves?
In one of my classes, entitled ‘Research Methods’, the class was prompted to not only learn about methods of research, but we had to construct our own studies. Each individual was important to my study of the effects of cinema on one’s mood. In order to receive accurate and unbiased results, I had to find as many people as possible to participate in my study. It was a very interesting and potentially useful. A couple people even cried.
Various passages of scripture remind us to “give careful thought to” the way we live our lives. (Haggai 1:5,7) It’s important to sit back and ask one’s self, “Am I really living the way that I should?” Even if you feel confident with your choices, it is necessary to constantly be asking yourself tough questions like this. There is always room for improvement, even in the lives of the most diligent Christians. Lamentations 3:40 suggests that we “test” our ways and “return to the Lord”. It is never too early or too late to take at honest look at one’s life and make the necessary changes or enhancements.