© Donna L. Watkins - Mepkin Abbey Grounds
In our fast-paced lifestyles we have become used to expecting things fast. Fast food, drive-thru pickups, fast answers, fast lanes, and the desire for fast money. There's nothing fast about the life of Christ.Walking Like Jesus is not a fast and furious lifestyle. If we want to hear what somebody's saying, we have to stop and listen. Children and adults want to know they are important enough to warrant your time and attention. Good listening skills requires that you stop, look somebody in the eyes, and hear what they are saying. It's about giving them your undivided attention.
Parents can relate to this with children. The rebellious nature of some children will indicate that they don't feel as though they are important enough to have the attention of their parents. In one way or another, they are determined to have that attention, even if it's bad attention.
Like the railroad warnings I heard as a child, Stop, Look and Listen, can be applied to hearing God also. Jesus taught while people stopped, sat and listened. You can't learn much on the run and you certainly don't comprehend correctly unless a subject has your divided attention.
Matthew 5:8 says, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God." Do we take time to be pure? It's so easy to gather dirt and grime as we muddle through our daily routines. We need to clean our spiritual house on a daily basis to be pure in heart or we get plugged up. Then we may need a spiritual cleanse. We take time for a body cleanse twice a year.
There are times when we need a spiritual cleanse also. Psalm 51:10 says, "Create in me a clean heart, oh God." Being used to fast everything, doesn't mean we're used to fasting. The Bible instructs us to fast and pray when we are not getting an answer to prayer. How long has it been since you fasted? The Church seems to have left this "inconvenient" truth behind.
If the pure in heart see God, how can we hear God when we don't take time to clean our spiritual house? Our heart gets full of junk that needs to be cleared. We carry around too much, when Jesus says, "My yoke is easy." We plow on with so much weight on our backs until we stumble and fall ... and then we turn to God.
Why not daily keep your heart clean. Time with God will always be recouped in so many ways. What you give to God always comes back to you, so there's no such thing as "not enough time" to read the Bible, pray or sit before the Lord to hear what He is saying to you. Besides the spiritual benefits, you will reap many health benefits since stress will be reduced.
Research even shows that digestion is better for those who take time to pray before a meal. Our rushed lifestyles push people to eat on the run, while in front of their computers and televisions, while they work at their desks. Shoveling food in doesn't mean your body will be fed. We eat to get nutrients from food that the body needs to function and remain healthy. If we eat on the run, our digestive rate doesn't allow for the assimilation of nutrients. If the body doesn't get the nutrients it needs, it sends out a signal to the brain that says, "Hungry!" And it becomes a circle of putting more and more food in, but not getting satisfied.
Getting the nutrients you need to feed the nervous system will enable you to slow life down, will put a smile back on your face and the immune system is healthier when the body is less tense. Stress is at the root of most diseases and until we get back to a slower, simpler lifestyle, our nation will continue to slide down the scoreboard of the healthiest nations.
We can't be healthy physically unless we're healthy spiritually. We are a three-dimension being: spirit, soul [mind/heart] and body. It all works together. Eat right, exercise, supplement ... but don't forget the most important link to good health. We are spiritual beings, created in the image of God. Feed your spirit and it will make your soul and body healthier.
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