Compartmentalization

I know you are all surprised that that I know such a big word. I am too. It’s a word I learned a few years ago and I think I’m just starting to understand it. We may not know it, but we all compartmentalize. We put sections of our life in different categories and arranged them in order of priority. Such as: Family, job, finances, recreation and entertainment, friends, house and car maintenance and church.

For the most part this is wise unless our priorities get out of order. Our job should never come before our family. I know there are circumstances when it may be necessary because without a job it’s difficult to support your family. Our entertainment and wants should never come before out finances. That’s called responsibility.

We never need to make our family our job or even recreation a job. What about church? Going to church and doing things at the church should be an area in our compartments. Remember the church isn’t our life; it’s somewhere we go for learning and worshipping.

However, our Christian faith and Jesus should not only be a part of our church responsibility. Our faith should encompass all areas of our lives. Our Christian faith should be our life and go wherever we go with the Holy Spirit leading us and influencing us along our path with our family, job, finances, our recreation and so on. I’ve seen too many combine their Christian life only with church and they take it off as soon as they walk out the door. Christianity is not something we do, but what we are.

I think this is what King Solomon was saying here.

There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8