What is ‘Spiritual’?
Most mornings I try to wake up early and spend time in prayer and reading the Bible. I often judge the success of my morning and day on how much I learned and how passionately I prayed. In my mind a ‘spiritual’ day can be measured by the amount of time spent in prayer or the number of pages of scripture I read each morning.
Today is my wife’s birthday and the kids wanted to get up early to decorate the house to celebrate her. They were so excited to get up early while it was still dark and make a birthday sign, hang streamers and blow up balloons. This all sounded great except that it would interfere with my time studying and praying, not to mention the behavior of two kids who hadn’t had enough sleep. How could I have a ‘spiritual’ day if I missed my time in prayer and study? Would my day be a bummer because I had missed my chance to connect with the Lord?
My kids incessantly pestered me until I agreed to their plan. I quietly got out of bed at 5:00 a.m. and snuck into the kids rooms. Normally it is difficult to get my daughter out of bed even at 9:00, but today she hopped right out, excited to make a Happy B-day banner. My son was also anxious to get up and told me he went to sleep early so he would be ready for the morning. We created a banner, hung streamers, blew up balloons, wrapped presents and enjoyed each others company. We all had so much joy spending time together serving, blessing and celebrating their mom and my wife.
As I left for work this morning, with the house decorated, the kids back in bed, and having missed my ‘quiet time’ I began to reflect on what it means to have a 'spiritual' day. Can I connect with Jesus apart from prayer and reading the Bible? Does time with the Lord need to be subdued and reserved?
This morning reminded me again of the joy of being married to an amazing woman and the delight I have in my children. The Lord reminded me of his blessings in my life and his grace and mercy to me. My kids were able to serve and bless their mom and were filled with joy in the process. As I reflected on the morning my view of what ‘spiritual’ looks like was challenged.
God wants us to have joy in him and enjoy who he is and his blessings in our life. God was so concerned with the suffering and lack of joy of his people in Egypt
Exodus 5:2 "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'"
God wants us to enjoy him and be satisfied with him. Studying God’s word and prayer are vital to the life of any follower of Jesus, but they should not be the only way we connect with him. Throughout scripture God tells his people to celebrate. At times this can be far more ‘spiritual’ than anything else we do.
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