Living in the Spirit
July 11, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Romans 8:1-11

 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. — Romans 8:11

 My sister and I had an interesting conversation the other day. We were comparing notes about how tired one can get sitting at a desk all day with very limited exertion of our bodies. We both grew up on a farm where we did hard physical labor and know well what it means to be bone-tired. I must confess, I was never a good candidate for working in the garden. My mother finally gave up on me and assigned me to cooking and housework when I was about ten. My sister and mother though were closest to God doing that backbreaking work of hoeing and planting and harvesting.

When one is bone-tired there is usually an accompanying sense of work accomplished and productivity whether we are sitting at a desk or using a hoe. The tiredness I experience when I just go through the motions of living has very different results. I think the word ennui would best describe that state of being. Ennui is a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction:  languor or emptiness of spirit.*

Paul is telling us in our scripture today that the Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead will give life to [our] mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in [us]. It is OK to get bone-tired for Christ. If our lives are filled with going through the motions of living, however, we probably need to reengage with our Maker and seek the work God knows will give us fulfillment and also honor God.

Prayer: Spirit that Dwells Within, we dedicate our lives to being fully engaged with you so that our vocations and avocations are a testament of our Love for God. Amen.

*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/ennui

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.