What things in life matter? Our families? Our jobs? Our recreation? Our worship? These are significant areas of life that serve to give us purpose and meaning. We see the importance of giving a prominent place to each of these, and yet we are sometimes challenged to keep them in balance. We find ourselves juggling between one and the other not wanting to let any of these important spheres drop out of our lives. To say the least, it can be exhausting.
Sadly, sometimes we throw this balancing act to the wind and focus our energy on the one sphere we are most comfortable in. This can create an unhealthy imbalance. The workaholic may neglect his or her family. The person who lives for “five o’clock” on Friday may begin to hate their job, seeing it only as a necessary evil they must endure to enjoy the “really important” part of life. An imbalance like this will take its toll. There will be a failure to achieve a life of fullness when one area is unduly focused on at the expense of the others. To avoid this outcome, we try to create a framework in our lives so these areas of importance won’t compete against each other. We make sure we leave our work at the office. We take pains to schedule family time and we plan recreation and vacations. Some of us make sure we attend our house of worship weekly. This framework is practical. It helps us keep balance while relieving some of the pressures of life.
Yet it is important in our desire for balance that we do not compartmentalize our lives. We may separate those areas of importance so much that they become, in a way, separate lives: our work life and our home life, our spiritual life and our secular life. Compartmentalization creates its own set of problems. No area is to be so separated that it holds no influence over the other areas. They should all work together in harmony with each other. Our family life should play an important role in career decisions, and our work ethic has an important influence on our family life. Each area should feed the others with its own worth and distinct values. They should inform and influence the other areas in a positive way. Only in this way will a life be full and well-rounded.
This is never truer than when it comes to our spiritual life. Our relationship with God is not meant to be compartmentalized from the rest of our lives. Instead, it should feed and nurture the other areas of life. Our relationship with God should inform and influence every aspect of our being: our family relationships, how we work, how we play, how we live the fullness of our lives here in Murfreesboro. Our spiritual life matters—more than we sometimes acknowledge. Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,” (Matthew 6:22)
Jesus speaks of the eye as the spiritual lamp of the whole person. It is the light which informs and influences all of life. Spiritual healthiness brings health and fullness in every area of our being. Because of this, we should have a “whole life” approach to our spiritual life. Our relationship with God cannot be confined to a “church box” we keep on our shelf. If it is a vibrant relationship it should influence our everyday lives.
How does our spiritual relationship with God influence our everyday lives? It is like a compass which gives our life direction. It gives us our bearing and keeps the other areas of our lives on track. It is also like the heart that supplies much-needed blood to the body. Our spiritual life with God strengthens and sustains us. It feeds and supports our whole person, especially in the difficult seasons of brokenness. But most importantly, life with God is the wellspring of true living. Jesus also says, in John’s gospel, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38)
Jesus declares Himself to be the wellspring of spiritual life. Possession of this life will create in us “living waters,” waters which nurture and feed, not only ourselves, but those around us as well. By this living water our family life will be changed. We will see our own self-centeredness softened into other-centeredness. Our work life will be changed. We will see our occupation in this world as a calling, a fulfillment of God’s purpose for our lives. Our recreation will be changed. We will learn to not chase after a happiness that is always eluding us. We will find joy in even the smallest things, learning that our life’s purpose is to enjoy God. Our community life will be changed. We will see that we are a vital part of God’s world and our city. Even our worship will be changed by this living water. No longer will an hour a week be sufficient to contain the rivers that flow. The living waters will enable us to live our lives to the glory of our God and to the fullness of His purpose for us. As those waters flow, our lives are carried deeper in the current of God’s love, for us, and for this world.
In John chapter four, as Jesus speaks to the woman at the well, He says to her, “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” And the woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water.” (John 4:14)
Like the woman at the well, I stand thirsty. And I hope along with me you desire to say, “Sir, give me this water.” For this water matters to our lives. This water is life.
