Step Two: Dont compartmentalize your spiritual life

This could also be stated “make your whole life spiritual.” I think this principle will hit closer to home for those of us in full time ministry, but there is certainly application for folks whose walk with God is limited to Sunday services and a quiet time here and there. What I’ve noticed in myself is a disturbing tendency to seek God when I am working: while I plan leadership meetings, think about students, prepare a talk or hang out on campus. I also think about God while I’m at church, or churchy things. Outside of that however there is an entire spectrum of time that seems to fall under the broad heading of “me-time”. During me-time I am the king, concerned first and foremost with the question “what do I want?”I usually end up playing a computer game, thinking about sports, playing guitar or doing some other activity designed to entertain me. Don’t get me wrong, none of these things are bad in themselves. The problem is that I get home from a day of work, or sit around on the weekend and these things are what take up my time and energy. I don’t want to be a person who “works” for God from 9 to 5 and then goes home and lives a “real” life filled with nothing but trivialities.

I recently read The Shack by William Young and I recommend you do the same. It’s not the best book ever but it can breathe fresh air into a stale relationship with God. During a conversation with the protagonist, God (who is one of the main characters of the book) says he doesn’t want to be first on a list. If you live your life by that principle (that God is first, then everything else) how can you know how much time is enough to spend on God before moving on to your next list item? Rather, God should be at the center of all things. As an experienced Christian I already knew this concept – but the idea of me-time betrays the fact that knowing a concept doesn’t make me a practitioner. To build my soul I’ve been trying to stop in my tracks when all I want to think about is fantasy football or music or movies and just think about a bible verse I’ve recently read; or ask the Lord to forgive me for being so unwilling to give up my mental escapes. So far it’s been exceedingly hard – to the point that I have to wrestle myself mentally just to put whatever it is I’m doing on the shelf and focus on Jesus. The results though, have been fantastic. I feel more spiritually aware, and I find my mind beginning to drift toward real things as opposed to the trivial. I hope you can challenge yourself to examine your thought life and ask whether your are loving the Lord with all your mind.