How much of my life should be allotted to each?

“For heaven’s sake, what on earth are you doing?”

Sounds like a Mom question as you prepare to depart for school in the middle of a Chicago winter wearing a tee shirt, shorts and flip flops.

Then she would probably ask: “Are you serious? What are you thinking? Are you thinking?” Then the clincher: “Well if you freeze into a pillar of ice waiting for the bus, don’t expect me to come thaw you out!”

I never actually heard that conversation even though I probably deserved it at times.

Read that opening question again but hear it asked in God’s voice. It opens up a whole new narrative.

As Christians there are not to be two components to our lives – secular and spiritual. We are not secular attempting to gain spirituality. We are spiritual beings, bringing the secular under the influence and purpose of our spiritual foundation.

Everything in our lives must come into alignment with who we are on the inside. Not the other way around. The Apostle Paul says we are not to be conformed or molded into the patterns around us (Romans 12:2), but to use God’s transforming power in our lives to actually change our culture.

This has been the calling of every believer. It means we stand on the side of truth, whether convenient or not. It means we err on the side of compassion even when we’re tired of being taken advantage of. It requires constantly viewing eternity as the ‘end game.’

The mantra “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die” is not for us. Rather we view what we do, how we respond, the manner in which we spend ourselves … all, in the light of eternity. We will live forever as will the investments of our lives.

Jesus asked, “ And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matthew 16:26 NLT Having a soul ‘saved’ from sin, self-absorbtion and short-sightedness is only the beginning.

Then it reaches out to others.

In Matthew 25:34-40 Jesus asks the question “For heaven’s sake what on earth are you doing” but in the context of a life lived for others. He’s already promised to take care of us, meet our needs, fill us with joy and peace. Now He asks, “Are you living on earth like it will make an eternal impact on those around you?

This week think giving, not grasping. Think peace-making, not bickering. Think of others others first. Share life, not yesterday’s news. Speak of hope, not despair and fear.

Let God use your ‘today’ to invest in someone else’s future. And do it with joy!