God Is
In today’s time it is often said that a person should have a balanced lifestyle, which includes family, work,
and leisure time. Now this is contrary to the motto used in the old days where work was the priority, family
was on the back burner, and leisure was a question of what and not when. Having a balanced lifestyle is
good for your health. You won’t get mentally or physically drained for doing too much of one thing
(we’ll touch more on that in a moment). Studies have concluded that if you work too much it may start
to affect your work negatively, you’ll believe you’re not working hard enough, and as a result you work even longer
hours. It’s a vicious cycle.
Now there are those who add religion to that equation of a balanced lifestyle. The norm is to attend
church on Sundays to keep everything balanced. You feel as though you are doing your civic duty by attending
Sunday worship service. You took care of religion for the week. It felt good.
You fulfilled your quota for the week.
Many believe that you need God to be a part of your life in order to make it in this world. Many
believe you need God to be a part of your life because that has what’s been passed on from previous generations.
If this is your balanced lifestyle, you are not alone. This is the lifestyle fitting to our culture
of today. It is a lifestyle that people are now getting accustomed to – a lifestyle of a “Christian”.
Unfortunately, this lifestyle is not balanced. This lifestyle is not in line of what God wants you
to do. So you ask, “What is wrong with this lifestyle”? The answer…..
God isn’t a part of your life, He is your life. God isn’t the final piece of
some intricate mathematical equation, He is the equation. God is our everything. What
we need to understand is that everything that we do, whether it’s work, family, church, must be done to glorify God.
There is no separation between secular and spiritual of what we do for God. Just because our main
job isn’t in the church doesn’t mean it doesn’t have meaning to God.
In Deuteronomy 6:5, Moses said to Israel to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength.” And just for confirmation, Jesus also said this very same statement
to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:37. We are to give our all to God, not a part. We must
let go of our selfish desires and our pursuit of self-fulfillment and surrender our lives to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
So, now that you know this, what are you going to do? There are three categories of people in this
world:
Ø Spiritual (1 Corin. 2:13-14), believers in Christ who have been born of the Spirit
and in whom the Spirit of God lives and is producing growth;
Ø Unspiritual (1 Corin. 2:14), those without Christ still living in the lost condition in which they were
born;
Ø
Worldly (1 Corin. 3:1), believers who remain immature in
the faith because they don’t allow the Spirit to work in their lives
We must transform our lives to become spiritual
believers. Romans 12:1-2 states, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s
mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
This is the absolution of God. Once we put God first and foremost in our lives, He will take care
of everything else. You won’t get burned out when you are truly living your life for the Lord.
The Lord revealed to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9a that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect
in weakness.” So let God take control of your lifestyle, and you’ll see the joy that He brings.
God is our only absolution.
