One
day I was sitting around with a guy who was a mentor to me. I was pretty young
in my walk with Jesus and going over to this man's house was like walking into
Narnia. The room we hung out in was full of books and items from all over the world and
was a place in which you could easily lose yourself. We were sitting there
sipping on strong coffee and I was shuffling through a stack of books that
intrigued me when in the course of conversation he said..."Brent, never
read a book you can understand".
Now I knew what he meant. I know
hyperbole when I hear it. But still, that was quite the challenge to a guy who
still gauged the books he read by how big the print was and if there was any
killing in it. Nevertheless I took his advice. One day soon after while I was
out at a used book store, I grabbed a copy of Plato's Republic. I'm not saying
he wanted me to read Plato, but if I am going to challenge my thinking why not
start with him? When I got home I began reading it...thirty minutes later I put
it down and picked up Sports Illustrated.
Plato
had this idea of how we should look at the world called Dualism. He said that
there is this physical world—the one we see—and a spiritual world that we don’t
see. The body and the soul, he would say, are distinct and unconnected things.
A lot
of us have adopted this idea, and in a similar way, have begun to believe that our physical lives and
our spiritual lives are two distinct, unconnected things.
We say,
there’s the sacred and there’s the secular. There’s church and there’s work.
There’s Sunday, and there’s Saturday. You see? And most of the time secular
wins out.
Real
quick, name 5 of your favorite movies...no special order...you just love them.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Now
give me the scripture references of your top 5 Bible verses that MEAN something
to you.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Okay...now
I know some of you were quoting those scriptures pretty fast...but most of us
were throwing out...Caddy Shack...Gladiator...The Notebook (Not my
favorite)...a lot faster. Why? You know why! Most people know the secular a lot
quicker than the sacred because most live more from the secular. We have them
categorized. If it's not movies...then it's news, and work, and kids activities, and music. Our
lives gravitate around the secular.
Have
you ever wondered if you were Spiritual Enough? Have you ever wondered if God
was pleased with you because you didn't know if you were involved in enough
Spiritual things? Haven't read your Bible enough...prayed enough. You may start
to see the emptiness of those questions.
What if you are growing in Christ, and have Cancer? What do you say then? “Well, my spiritual life is great, but my normal life stinks.” Could it be we have a wrong perspective? Maybe we are looking at this all wrong.
Here is where I think God wants us to live from...That if you are being drawn closer to him it affects the other
things in your life.
The
one you have put your trust in for Eternity is the one who is the center of
your Now.
Once
saved you can’t really separate Eternity and Now because you are just as much his
now as you will be then. But,
if you separate the two…your spiritual life and your normal life… you run the
risk of thinking that God doesn’t care.
Am I spiritual enough? It doesn’t make
sense, does it?
Am I living? That’s our question.
It’s
all spiritual.
It
has to do with knowing God’s right to your life and how to let everything flow
out of our relationship with him. If
you don’t know who someone IS, it affects how you act towards them!
Colossians
1:15-20
15
He is the image (perfect representation) of the invisible God, the firstborn
over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and
on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all
things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body,
the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that
in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all
his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all
things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through
his blood, shed on the cross.
That’s
what this passage does for us…let’s us know who Jesus is! And how EVERYTHING
is his…so as a result EVERYTHING in your life can flow from your relationship
with Him. It works better that way.
Brent
