On June 16th, I had surgery on my ear. My bones had grown to where they pressing my ear canal and making it very narrow. This led to chronic ear infections and hearing loss. For most of 2014 I have had balance issues due to the state of my ear and its congestion. After surgery, they have been even worse. The readjusting process has left my head swimming at times. Hopefully it will continue to settle down and soon I will be back to normal.
This whole process has had interesting timing. During the physical issues of balance I have been facing, I have been reminded of the need to keep our lives in balance. When walking across the room dizzily, it can go from comedic to troubling as I bounce off things and get light headed. When life is out of balance, it can be just as tragic. God created us and intends for us to be balanced in life.
Jesus was once asked which commandment was the greatest and his reply is found in Luke 10:27 (HCSB)
There have been many studies and sermons about verse 27. Jesus lists 4 things (heart, soul, strength, and mind) with which we are to love God. I have often summarized it as love God with everything we have. Jesus wants our focus to be on loving God with a balanced approach.
We can’t compartmentalize our worship. It should be with all we have. Our heart is often thought of as the seat of emotions. We can and should have emotions involved in worship. Our soul is what we think of as our spirit. It is the spiritual side of our being. Our strength is often seen as our physical body. We worship through physical expression as well (bowing, clapping, dancing, etc.). Finally, our mind is the seat of our intellect. We worship with our brains turned on.
Just as my ear issues have led to problems functioning normally, we won’t function normally if we get out of balance. Too often we want to emphasize one aspect to the detriment of the others. We can have amazing emotional experiences, but our spirit never communes with God. We can know truth and focus on analyzing God and His word so much, that our hearts are never touched.
Our love for God should flow from all of our being, not just 1 aspect. We feel the emotion in heart, hold the truth in mind, commune with Him in our spirit and serve Him with our strength. Let us always keep our balance.
Ramblings by James 