heart

All of this "supposed to"... Supposed to tackle the lists. Supposed to finish by this deadline. Supposed to clean the bathroom. Supposed to cook more. Supposed to spend more time with this girl. Supposed to ride the bike more. Supposed to drink less coffee, more water. Supposed to read that book. Supposed to...Good things. Things I genuinely want to do. But this goodness, listed out, gets heavy.I have known for years, and been profoundly impacted, by the reality that in the letters penned by Paul in the Bible he begins the first half with truth about who God is and who we are. Glorious, mystery made known, truth that redeems the dead back into life. And then the second half are truths about how alive people walk. How to walk full of life.Too often, we start wanting to know what to do. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it. And I'll do it good. Because I'm a good girl. Yet starting with listed goodness, as good as it may be, gets me all kinds of messed up.Our church has been in a Bible study of Colossians on the weekends and I have been doing a bit of study and soaking on my own. One thing that I noticed for the first time ever is that as the book transitions from the truth of who we are into the truth of how we walk in it, the heart swells in importance and mention in the book.The "being" flows into the "doing" and the heart comes alive!The truth in how to walk full of life does not settle into a shadow of it's fullness. It does not weigh the child of God down with a burden. It does not kill the heart.The more outward that the message of truth is manifested, the more the heart manifests! In being loved, loving others, doing work heartily, doing things with sincerity of heart, not loosing heart, letting peace rule in my heart, singing with thankfulness in my heart, putting on love to unity can reign, putting on a heart of compassion, knowing I am beloved, seeing others as beloved.So if my "doing" is killing my heart, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm not doing good things, but it most certainly means I'm not doing them in light of who I am in Christ.Let's let our hearts come alive! Even as we walk in the good things prepared for us. Let us know, truly know, we are known and loved fully and walk in this. Hearts alive all the more even as we do things. Because we are only becoming more alive in who we really are!