When the spiritual becomes the secular and
the secular becomes the spiritual
Every Christmas there is one word, one
phrase that seems to be only used at Christmas. I am not writing about
crackers, Christmas pudding or advent calendars, the word I am thinking of is
“Immanuel.” This declaration of the coming of the baby Jesus, God intervening
into time and space, “God with us.”
But “Immanuel” is so much more than just
God entering our world, it is the son of God becoming human so that he could
actually touch us. “Immanuel” means that God is showing us that he has no
intention of being God without us. He is sharing His life with us so that we
can share in God’s life.
When we believe in Christ, we enter into a
living relationship with God. Our life becomes nothing less than a
participation in God’s life.
The desires of our hearts are God’s
desires, the dreams we dream are God’s dreams, the breath we exhale is God’s
breath, the blood flowing in our veins is God’s blood. In every area, every
sense, every action we are in union and participation with the almighty God.
From the most mundane action of making
breakfast for the family, doing the washing, sorting out the broken office
photocopier to praying for the sick, enjoying the presence of God, every
moment, every action is important and God is with us and working through us.
Our lives should not be “departmentalized”
into “spiritual” and “secular.” Truth is truth whether we are at Church or at
home. We should keep our thoughts, imaginations and our minds on the good
things God has given us in the natural, such as family, health, and work, just
as we should think about, righteousness, justification, forgiveness, and so on.
We should focus on the good in every area
of our lives. Recognizing God’s hand in even the smallest things will cause
peace and keep our hearts and minds on our union with Christ and let his power
flow out of our lives.
Christ is sharing himself and his life with
the father in us. Every thing we do is intertwined with Him and his glory.
ah i so agree that we should not compartmentalize life...everything is spiritual...
ReplyDeleteVERY WELL DONE!!! Alas, since I am waging a war against word verification, I do not even try to decipher the code with my poor eyesight anymore, but this was a very impressive piece. (He had more to do with it than you did--right?)
ReplyDelete