Having a BALANCED walk with God

This is the "Disciple's Cross" illustration from the Masterlife series, and to me it is a good summary of the Christian walk.

1. First and foremost, the starting point has to be the willingness to take up our cross DAILY, so as to have a relationship with God.
   "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23
2. So how do we have a relationship with God? The vertical axis of the cross reminds us that the two main areas of communication with Him are Prayer and His Word. Experience has shown that if either one of these is missing, we lack the means to communicate with our Lord. It would be like complaining that our best friend or family does not call, when we are not even at the phone to hear it ring.
3. Finally, the horizontal axis points to what overflows from a close walk with the Lord - Fellowship with fellow Christians and Witnessing to non-Christians. This forms the basis of our Ministry or Service for the Lord.

I have found this simple illustration to be very useful in checking my walk with the Lord. Anytime that we find that the 4 elements in the vertical and horizontal axis of the cross - Prayer, Word, Fellowship and Witness - not being in balance in our lives, is an indication that we need to check our walk with God. For example, reading His Word but not praying could be a sign that I am relying too much on my own understanding/interpretation of His Word and may even be playing "Bible lottery" - you know, the dangerous game of flipping the bible to a random page/verse and trying to find a specific answer to our need of the moment. Or, another example is if I am consistently praying and reading His Word, but have no ministry (to Christians or non-Christians) to show for it, I am in danger of reading/knowing His will but not doing it.

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. " James 2:14-17