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Meditation 9: Matthew 7

8/25/2009 8:01:55 PM

Matthew 7:21-29

[Jesus said] “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be...wise...” (v. 24)

Jesus knew how difficult it was to live each day, disciplining oneself to listen to God and following through. Merely speaking words about God can never serve as a substitute for a relationship of love and trust with God.

Too many of us live with head beliefs not connected to our hearts. When head beliefs lack the love of the heart, they actually become a barrier to living a fully spiritually conscious life. It is easy to remain in the head, where intellect and reason rule. Our culture has made sound reasoning a god which dictates what is acceptable spiritual journey and what is not. The challenge each one of us must consider is will we allow reason to have more authority in our lives than the spiritual.

A life dedicated to spiritual journey flows from the soul, for we instinctively know when we subordinate our souls to reason, the most important part of us is not being heard. This leads to inner conflict and confusion. When we don’t listen to our souls, we create an inner battleground where it’s very difficult to experience peace and Divine light.

As we journey, we learn to recognize when our lives lack integrity: when we’re not living in harmony with what we say we believe. To merely speak words but not to live them—not to feel the connection between head, heart and soul—diminishes the light of our spirit.

Jesus showed us what it means to live in relationship with God in this earthly life: in utter dependence and trust on the One who gave us life and who continues to renew and sustain us. Jesus lived with a conscious connection to God that permeated his thoughts and his responses to the events and circumstances of his life. Jesus lived with heart, mind and soul fully integrated.

With that kind of focus, the storms of this life can be faced with courage while we seek to learn what they have to teach us. Living in absolute trust, we learn we’re not being punished by a judgmental God, but guided, taught and loved. On that promise we can build our lives.

God of hope, hold me through the storms of life, and give me the strength to stand. Help me to trust that in every moment of my life, you are already giving me everything I need.