The Balanced Christian Life
I love the story of the prophet, Elisha, and his servant surrounded by the Syrian army in the town of Dothan. “What are we going to do?” Elisha’s servant cries out. To which Elisha prays, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” The servant’s eyes are opened, and he sees the hills around the city full of horses and chariots of fire sent by God to protect them.
Last week, I shared a little bit with you about Evelyn Underhill. Her book, Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man’s Spiritual Consciousness, gives us great insight into the unseen world around us, to which prayer opens our eyes.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal,” writes Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:18.
Prayer, writes Underhill, is “going up or out from our ordinary circle of earthly interests.” Because, as Christians, we are citizens of both Eternity and Time, we must learn to “balance these two worlds, moving between them.”
Maybe you’ve heard the saying: too heavenly-minded to be of any earthly good. The opposite is also true: too earthly-minded to be of any heavenly good. It is essential as followers of Jesus that we avoid allowing the pendulum to swing too far in one direction or the other. But the question is - how?
The answer is through prayer. And prayer writes Underhill, involves our three faculties of thinking, feeling, and willing (or acting).
Thinking is a vital ingredient of prayer. It often takes the form of meditation, pondering a passage of Scripture, or theological truth. I do this (most of the time) daily. I thoughtfully recite, out loud, the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23. Then I take time to read my Bible slowly and prayerfully.
Feeling involves desire, and if we are honest, we don’t always desire the things of the Spirit, the things of God. We are too caught up in the ways of the world - work, family, television, video games, Facebook, etc.
But feeling or desire follows will. The best way I know how to explain this is to describe what I’m about to do after I finish writing this post, which is to go to the gym for a workout. I don’t feel like it today, but I’m going to work out anyway. And if it’s anything like most of the workouts I engage in when I don’t feel like it, I’ll be glad I did after it’s over. In fact, I may even really get into this impending workout. But whether I do or not, as I consistently exercise my will over time, hitting the gym day after day, I will reap some very positive benefits in my life.
It’s the same way with prayer. The discipline of meditation and prayer, in time, opens our eyes to the unseen, spiritual realities all around us. And believe me, when I say it’s a life-changer! Our perspective on so many things changes. We worry less and live and love more. This is because we see our lives not just at a point in time; we see our lives in the light of eternity.
In his first letter, the apostle John describes three levels of Christian maturity. He labels them as children, young adults, and parents. The children, he says, rejoice in the knowledge that their sins are forgiven. The young adults have overcome the evil one, and the temptations, and weaknesses of the flesh that once held them captive. The parents “know Him who is from the beginning.” In other words, mature believers, while living in time, have gained an eternal perspective on their lives and world. (See I John 2:12-14)
What are you seeing today? Are you focused only on earthly things, or are you finding that balance between the temporal and eternal? Why don’t you decide, right now, to commit to some spiritual exercise in your life?
“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8)
In Christ,
Dan
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