“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (Romans 12:1-2) The Message
As humans, we naturally want to compartmentalize our lives. We have our family compartment, our work compartment, our friend compartment, etc. This is not a bad thing. It is actually how we are wired and helps us to process different emotions and different data for the various arenas in which we interact.
The problem comes, however, when we create another compartment in our life for God. It’s so easy to do! We create a room called “God” and that is where we go to church, read the Bible, and even pray. And make no mistake, we’ve all done that at some point.
The reality is that God never intended for us to live that way. The Message gives such a great paraphrase of Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12. What would happen if we took every part of our lives: our “sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around-life” and offered it to God as an offering? What if instead of compartmentalizing God, we gave him free rein in our entire lives, in every other compartment?
Shoving God into a room and locking the door, only to open it at set times, is the reason too many Christians are missing out on the life the Holy Spirit has for them. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10b) This abundant life will only be experienced by allowing the Holy Spirit free and unfettered access to every area and compartment of our lives.
What is one area in which you can give the Holy Spirit more control in the coming year?
David and Annie are serving the Lord in the US, Africa, India, and South America. Would you consider joining their team? Just click here to get involved. Thanks so much!
