Eternity in mind

I wonder if you have had the same experience I have of separating life into two large pieces.  One piece is the natural life I live in a natural world.  In this piece of life I do a job, drive a car, eat food, enjoy friends and family and discuss the weather.  The other piece is the spiritual life that is represented by faith in the Lord.  It seems centered more around Sunday morning, small group gatherings for Bible study and prayer and turning to God out of personal need.  This way of living has a tendency to make me think I live in the natural world and turn to the spiritual world on an "as-needed" basis.  It also causes me to think of the natural world as the one that is most important right now...while someday the spiritual world will be more relevant and meaningful.  This morning it hit me that the real challenge and the real blessing come when we successfully integrate these two pieces into one.  When we live in the natural world and see the Lord in it.  When we do our jobs and wait on Him in the midst of the day.  When we appreciate frequent opportunities to talk with the Lord and to thank Him.  When we see His hand in the blessing of marriage, children and friends.  There is a great peace knowing that we walk with Him now and we will walk with Him forever.  Yes, seeing Heaven painted on the canvas of our natural experience makes our knowledge of the Lord all the richer.   Luke 17:20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'[a] For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."    blessings, Rob Smith