TITLE: Balancing Life Demands
TODAY’S VERSE: MARK 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
REVELATION:
How can we balance life's demands? Too often we live our lives from one stress to another, from one week to the next, with our eyes focused only on the next payday. We feel we are being rushed through our days by life's countless demands, with no sense of peace, and nobody to show us which way we ought to go. We lose sight of what is most important, and end up giving our whole lives to the rat race. How can we escape this vicious cycle, and live a balanced life?
I must admit, for the past several months I have been running the rat race too. At the beginning of the year, I promised myself that I was not going to be rushed through my days as I have so often before. I managed pretty well right up until the end of May, and looking back over the time since then, I can see that the demands of my life haven't changed that much. So, why do I feel more rushed now? As I was reading today's verse, I came to the realization that life's demands aren't to blame - I've just gotten my priorities all wrong.
Often we are told that we should put God first and the rest will follow, but we rarely live by this wisdom. After meditating on today's verse, I realized that at the beginning of the year, I was doing just what the verse suggests. At that time, I was keeping my heart set on God in all that I did. My time spent in prayer and in Bible study sustained me, and all of my decisions were made under God's guidance.
About three weeks ago I was enjoying myself at a barbeque, when a friend asked me, "Hey, what happened to your devotional writings?" My answer was, "I've been a busy man - I haven't had time for them." He then asked, "Then how come you had time to run 13 miles this morning?" Overcome with guilty, I quickly dodged the question and changed the subject. In essence, my friend was saying that God was no longer my first priority, which was true. Somehow, I had rearranged my life so that God was no longer first in my heart. That is why I am feeling rushed through my days, more so than at the beginning of the year.
We can balance life's demands by focusing the whole of our being upon God - all of our mind, heart, soul and strength. With our mind, we can increase our knowledge of God through Bible study. When we have learned God's Word, we must then take it to heart and do what it says. However, this can sometimes be a struggle, because it often requires us to move out of our "comfort zone," beyond the familiar rush of our daily life. Then we must reach out with all of our soul in daily prayer, asking God to purge us of our pride and confusion, so that we can accept His Will and to let go of our thoughtless ways. And last but not least, with all of our strength we must do God's Will.
Dear Reader, Jesus knew that our lives, which are full of challenge and adversity, will only become manageable when we put our whole focus on God. In today's verse Jesus tells us," "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." This is the true key to balancing life's demands. If we focus all of our being upon God, He will take care of the rest. The first step is to put your trust in Jesus by confessing with your mouth that "Jesus is Lord," and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Soon you will be on your way to a balanced life!
Click here to accept Jesus into your life.
PRAYER:
My Heavenly Father, thank You for constantly watching over me. I pray that you will teach me to keep You first in my thoughts, in my intentions, in my actions and in my speech - in all that I am. In Jesus' precious name, this I pray. Amen.
APPLICATION:
To truly love God, you must love Him in all you do. Obey His commands and seek to understand His ways through reading the Bible and in prayer.
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