How To Balance A Spiritual And Material Life

What could possibly be more important than your eternity?

Well sometimes I actually do have to ask myself that when I get consumed in work and life. It usually serves as a reminder that I need to take a step back and evaluate the importance of my spiritual heath.

Rushing is wrong every time. There is always plenty of time to worry about your meal preps, outfits and workouts for the week, work emails, etc. but quiet time/days with God may be a scarce and is far more important than worldly and material matters.

We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be.

"The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him.… We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be".

My Utmost for His Highest, January 6, 736 R

This particular quote really struck me by the rare wisdom it contains.

Think about it.

Finding a proper balance between heavenly concerns and earthly responsibilities is seriously not easy in today's world. We are constantly being pulled between our devoutness and practicality, between devotion and duty, between communion with God and calling in the world.

It can be tough.

Genesis 12:8 From there he (Abraham) went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. (NIV)

To pitch our tents between Bethel and Ai is such a profoundly Biblical way of describing our call to be in the world but not of it. It is the perfect metaphor for describing a genuinely biblical worldview.

Bethel is a place of fellowship with God; Ai represents the world. Abraham "pitched his tent" between the two. In other words, there must be good balance in our lives between the spiritual and the material. It is possible to become so 'heavenly minded' that we are not earthly good;

("Yes, I know. It is possible to be so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly use" - John Piper) or, so focused on the material that we neglect our spiritual calling.

That is why we must "pitch our tents"  where we will always have freedom to worship God even though we live in a material world.

Blessings always,

- S