In recent conversations between my wife and myself, the ability to distinguish between worthwhile engagements and those that we need not concern ourselves with has been a recurrent theme. The prevalence of opportunity (a good thing) makes it easy to over-commit. First and foremost, the Bible teaches us that we have certain universal responsibilities, such as those to widows and orphans. On top of those, we have the responsibilities of running a household, work, and commitments to our churches. We also have countless voices dictating the pursuits that they believe should be ours: physical exercise, reading the latest trendy Christian book, active involvement with countless charitable organizations, etc. We could easily give ourselves to each of these engagements until every last penny is spent, and we drop dead from exhaustion, and not only would there still be more to do, but we would likely not have done justice to any of those pursuits, with such divided attention. So we are left, wondering what to focus on and how to answer those who hold us in disdain for not devoting adequate attention to their pet causes.
Before seeking answers any further, let us first remember God's Word to us in Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" All Christians are commanded to care for widows and orphans (James 1:27), and contrary to popular belief, to retweet a hashtag raising awareness of the plights of widows and orphans while doing absolutely nothing to actually meet the needs of these people is in no way caring. In fact, it's kind of obnoxious, and you're probably embarrassing your parents. We should be working to meet the material, spiritual, and emotional needs of these people. That does not mean however, that each of us should abandon everything and begin an organization to meet those needs, unless you have been called by the Lord to do so. The same principle may be applied across the board. We should take every opportunity that is afforded us to obey God's commands, but the direction and focus of our lives should be determined by the Lord so that each of our functions as a part of His body will be fulfilled.
I must give account to God for what I did with His Word, and His alone. My job is to be obedient to Him, not to do what other people think I should be doing. If we neglect the "good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10), then an accounting will be required, no matter how noble the alternatives were for which we traded His call on our lives. Jesus taught us to "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness," then the things that "our heavenly Father knows that [we] need" will be provided (Matthew 6:32-33). "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).