To be spiritually minded...

On Wednesday, I spent several hours facepainting a bunch of middle schoolers for a special AR celebration. "AR" is Accelerated Reader, a program in which students earn points for taking comprehension tests on books they have read; the celebration was for those who had met their grade-level point goal. I didn't get an exact count, but I know I painted around 40 kids at least. It was a fun time in spite of my soreness from sitting in a strange position all day and from the sunburn on my neck. I love being artistic and interacting with kids, so the day was right up my alley.

That evening at intercessory prayer, though, I realized what an opportunity I had missed. In those hours spent painting wolves and initials and soccer balls and ballet shoes, my hands touched dozens of little faces. In serving them, I believe I served Christ, but how much more could I have served Him if I truly were spiritually minded? If my first thought were the spiritual instead of the natural, I could have asked the Lord for words of knowledge, and without saying a word, prayed back to Him the things He was showing me. I could've asked Him for specific encouragement to give to each child who sat down in my chair.

Of course I interact with people all the time without feeling like I've missed something, but it was the fact of physically touching so many people in one day without really thinking about God and his purposes for them that really struck me later on. Is the anointing that breaks the yoke on me or isn't it? Does the power that raised Christ from the dead dwell in my mortal body or doesn't it? Though I can think of no sin I committed in my time facepainting, I definitely failed to seize the day.

Aren't there so many days like that? We haven't done anything wrong, but what have we done that's right? I'm not talking about being so heavenly minded we're no earthly good--we have to live here in these physical bodies and do the day-to-day mess that constitutes a life--but I am talking about an intentionally spiritual mindset, a choice to think with the mind of Christ. I want to wake up with some divine initiative, a heart that says

Where's a need I can meet?
Let's pray about that right now!
Why don't we look and see what God's
word has to say about it?
You blessed me today!
What can I do to serve you?
I love you!

This is my Tres Dias/Vida Nueva/New Attitude heart, but I want it to be my default attitude, my automatic response, my repent-quickly-and-get-it-back mindset. "For to be carnally minded is death," Romans 8:6 tells us, "but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." I want to stay there.