Doing the 12:30

The human life consist of four key areas that the experts urge us to stay strong in and to nurture and build up. These areas include physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. While I am not an expert on how they came up with the four categories, or how they deemed them separate (except maybe physical, which is obviously more unique than the others), this idea does seem to go back through the ages. Even before the modern influences of psychology, the writer of Mark (way back there in history) hit what seems to be a similar idea in chapter 12, verse 30. This verse, which is one of my current favorites and has been a focal point in my recent devotions and in the local church I attend, seems to hit the four categories of the human self right on the head and it seems to include the ingredient that most secular pyschologists want to leave out. That missing ingredient is actually the key to building these areas up to as near perfect as possible in this world.

The New International Version of this verse reads, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." If you ask me, I'd surely say the heart, soul, mind, and strength are very similar to our emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical being. But that is only part of what this verse is portraying, as it pleads for us to use these four areas to love God fully and completely. Again, this is the missing aspect most of our experts of today try to leave out. The key to meaningful living is putting God number 1 in all areas of our lives. Hopefully doing this will spread the benefits not only to us, but to our families, friends, co-workers, customers, and others in our lives. As Rick Warren said in The Purpose Driven Life, life isn't about us; it is about God. As wild as it sounds, put Him ahead of yourself, and you could cure a lot of your feelings of incompleteness. I say this not as someone who has finished this transformation in thought, but as one who is weak and fails miserably in trying to do it, yet I can say in those glimpses of success (when you feel so close to having it before you lose it) that I could feel the effectiveness of this approach. It was a wonderful feeling. Of course, I have to learn to hang on to it a little longer each time before the pressures of the world cause me to stumble again.

Despite our failures, we have an awesome God still loving us, and not wanting us to give up. He wants this relationship with us, because we are number 1 in His eyes (this gives us the makings of a perfect relationship once we get our part down). We need to keep striving and improving each day in developing this mindset and this attitude in life. Just focus on doing the 12:30, the Mark 12:30 that is, throughout your life and your days. Someday, we will perform it perfectly.

So do the 12:30! Make God number 1 in your life! Start now by saying a prayer and asking for His help. Invite Him in to your life if you have yet to do so. Expect to stumble and fall in your relationship, but a big part of doing the 12:30 here on earth is to get back up, shake off your mistake (ask for forgiveness if needed), learn from them, and keep striving to do it right. Do your best!