Balance!

Balance!

Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. 1 Timothy 4:8 MSG

In life, finding the right balance is key to physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual well being. Too many times, we have found it easy to embrace extremes, usually pursuing one end of the spectrum and abandoning or ignoring the other end. God himself would have us consider our priorities, so we can be all that he has created us to be.

Today's extract establishes a truth we often ignore- our physical health is as important as our spiritual health. We cannot claim to be pursuing spirituality and ignore vital signs of failing health. We cannot claim to be so heaven-conscious that we ignore vital signs that we are headed there prematurely. Both are key and are fundamental components of our lives. How then do we proceed?

First of all, we must understand the place of each, knowing that each position serves a purpose. When you get that, you will understand what needs to be done, when it should get done and why it needs to be be done. Secondly, one is eternal while the other is temporal. It does not mean that the temporal be ignored, but we must balance the requirements of both so that we can be all that God demands of us. Of what point is a well-built and healthy body without any guarantee of eternity? Of what use is a body that is perpetually ill, due to lack of adequate care, yet seems to be spiritually sound? Would that be possible? How would you be effective and useful?

In all our pursuits in life, let us strike the right balance. God demands that we take good care of our bodies. We expects us to do all that is required to nurture this earthen vessel called our body. But he also demands that we pay attention to the eternal and the spiritual. At the end of our lives, we won't present well-sculpted bodies to God; all that will matter is our relationship with Jesus. How's yours? Remember, eternity is too long a time not to be sure about your eternal destination.