Above the Mundane

I watched my 8-year-old Granddaughter daughter playing with her best friend in the pool yesterday. I was so struck by the joy and intensity of their play. They were working very hard at what they did and were so engrossed in it that they were unaware of other people around them.

It reminded me of what it was like to be a kid and to be that involved in play. I remember hating to take naps because naps cut into my playtime. Eating for me was a time to fuel my active body. I ate when I was hungry or whenever I was called to join in a family meal. I enjoyed the time sitting around the table with my family but I also remember how I couldn't wait to be done with the meal so I could get back outside or upstairs to my room to continue doing whatever imaginative thing I had been involved in before the interruption.

Not only do children throw themselves fully and joyfully into their play, but also into the awe and wonder of God’s amazing creation. I love taking walks with little ones and watching carefully to see the world through their eyes. They want to touch, smell, dig, prod, splash, jump, swing, laugh, run, and stop again to look closely at the latest wonder that caught their eye.

As adults, we too easily lose the joy of our pursuits. We lose our sense of adventure. If you watch kids play and explore without adult intervention, it doesn't take long to see how hard and how happily they work at it. Their bodies, minds, and emotions are fully and powerfully engaged. Might I say that they work harder (and certainly more joyfully) at their play than we do at our work?

When was the last time you were so engrossed in something that your mind, emotions, and even your body were engaged? You may have a job that you don't like and you can't change that fact. But the Bible has a lot to say about what our attitude should be in the midst of whatever job is assigned to us. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters," (Colossians 3:23)

Might you be able to fully obey this command and have it totally change your attitude? Pour your entire being into your work knowing, KNOWING, that Jesus is right beside you watching everything you do and encouraging you in every step.

Talk to Him while you work. Love Him while you work. Ask for His guidance while you work. Praise Him while you work. Are you surrounded by other people? Ask your Lord to love them through you. A very difficult task possibly but as He enters the challenge with you, it can become an adventure! Perhaps even a joyful adventure.

Your Creator longs for every minute of your life to be transformed into an exciting walk with Him. Don't let your enemy let you be satisfied with a mundane existence. Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)

Start living with the awe, enthusiasm, and joy of a child. That is how God created you to live. If you're His child, a new creation in Him, then His Spirit lives in you. On your own, you absolutely cannot lift yourself above the mundane. But by the continual empowering of His Spirit within you, it can happen!!!!