Living Fully in the Presence of God

If we were to ask most Christians how to grow in maturity, we’d likely hear three common answers:
Read your Bible, pray, and attend church regularly.

These are good and necessary practices. However, many Christians who do these things still feel like they’re living two incongruent lives.

There’s the Christian life—Bible, prayer, and church.
And then there’s real life—work, family, play, rest, and friendship.

Somehow, we’ve failed to show that every area of life belongs to God. What’s more, living life to the fullest actually opens us up to experience more of God.

Work and play are not distractions we endure while wishing we could pray more.
They are means of grace—designed for us to grow closer to God, enjoy His world, and reflect His image in creation.

So how do we sanctify all of life?

The most obvious answer is to live all of life well, and—as Paul says—”as unto the Lord.”
But this requires a shift in perspective.

Many people think of Christianity as a narrowing of life. But it’s not.

In the Kingdom in which we now live, all things are being brought under the authority of Jesus.
Certainly that includes the lofty and unseen—life, death, principalities, and powers.
But more practically, it includes every ordinary moment and activity of our lives.

Our days are not being reduced—they are being expanded.
Our choices matter more, not less.
Each action echoes in eternity.

Worship Is Not a Time Slot

When we live like this, all of life becomes worship.
At the end of the day, we can step back and look at our finished work—
and our heart swells with joy,
because we created something good with our hands,
in partnership with Jesus,
bringing beauty and order to His world.

We find Him in the feasting and fasting,
in the love and struggle,
in celebration and grief,
in play and rest.

A Litany for Whole-Life Worship

Work until your hands bleed
Feast until you can’t eat
Fast until you’re at peace
Love until you can’t speak

Celebrate till earth shakes
Grieve until your heart breaks
Play until your back screams
Rest until your daydreams

Bible, Church, and Pray
Do this all, every day.

Bibliography (Chicago Style)

Brother Lawrence. The Practice of the Presence of God. Whitaker House, 1982.
(Classic source on integrating faith into everyday life.)

Guinness, Os. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003.
(A contemporary exploration of calling and whole-life discipleship.)

Peterson, Eugene H. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005.
(Insight into seeing Christ in the ordinary and everyday.)

Smith, James K. A. You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2016.
(On liturgy and embodied spiritual practices in daily life.)

Wright, N. T. After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. New York: HarperOne, 2010.
(Theology of virtue and integration of faith and life.)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.
(Scripture cited and referenced throughout.)