Does Your Soul Need a Spa Day?
Something struck me in a new way today. I need Jesus EVERY day. I can’t save him up and use my “Jesus” reserves when I don’t make time to spend with him.
Now, I’m pretty sure I don’t have a completely theologically sound argument here, but just humor me.
I was teaching my daughter’s science class about vitamins and minerals the other day. They were learning the difference between fat soluble and water soluble vitamins. The water soluble ones, like Vitamin C, cannot be stored in your body for later. We need Vitamin C every day. The fat soluble ones, like Vitamin A, are stored in your body for days when you don’t get enough of that vitamin. I think spiritually this is true as well. We can definitely “hide His Words in our heart”. Those ones that we need to rise to the surface at exactly the right time, when we need a reminder, encouragement or even a rebuke. But Jesus, the actual heart of Jesus, needs to be invited into our life every. single. day. Intimacy happens over time, but it will not keep. It needs to be tended to on a daily basis or it will wither away before we even realize what happened.
I’ve been feeling blah lately. Ever since the hurricane really. About that time my morning routine fell apart, my chronic neck pain which had been dormant for nearly a year flared up again, and a tiredness crept into my body that I felt all the way to my bones. Hence the reason I have not been writing much. But just as I realized I need to be taking my vitamins to nourish and care for my physical body, I have been reminded that my soul needs care as well.
Daily, intimate time with Jesus is just like those water soluble vitamins. It fills me to the brim with the grace, peace, and joy that I need to get through THAT day, but just like those vitamins, or better yet, like the manna that fed the Jews in the middle of the desert, it doesn’t keep. My soul requires daily nourishment that only Jesus can provide. New and fresh each day. Neglecting him is detrimental to the health of my soul. And in the same way that a vitamin deficiency isn’t obvious right away, neither is the silent deterioration of our soul. Apathy and anxiety don’t just appear over night. They gradually trickle in and before we know it we are drowning.
Jesus is our most basic need. The most important thing our soul requires. Leave him out and symptoms of a shriveling soul begin to appear.
Rest feels forced and never complete. Creativity is squashed. Joy falls flat, our smiles forced.
I don’t think I am alone in this struggle. Do you feel it? The weight of all life brings is a little too heavy right now? It’s because we are deficient in “intimacy with Jesus”. My soul is thirsty and I can practically taste my next encounter with Him. Let’s not put it off any longer. This doesn’t just happen. We have to make it happen, be intentional. Tomorrow morning I have a date with Jesus. Are you going to make one too? This will be more refreshing than a thousand spa days! Join me! The rejuvenation of your soul is where it all starts.