Living Well
Forbid it, O Father, that the difficulty of living well should ever tempt me to fall into any kind of heedlessness or despair. John Baillie, A Diary of Private Prayer, 29th Evening.
Wait. Don't go too fast. We are used to having it our way as credit maxed, marginless Americans. Baillie is Scottish. Oldschool. King's English. Slow reading. Soul searching. Read it again. And maybe a third time. For good measure.
Have you ever considered "the difficulty of living well"?
"Considered it? I'm living it," you may think. I've got too much house, too much car, & too much waistline, but not enough time & certainly not enough money. Too personalized. Too indebted. Too overworked. Too tired. Too stressed.
We've had it our way & it is killing us. We are gluttons in the first degree. Suffering from the sin of too little & not enough.
Have the blessings of God in your life - your talents, your abilities, your earnings, your family, your friends, your home, your possessions, your hobbies, your leisure - tempted you to heedlessness or despair?
Are you too busy to hear God?
Are you too worried to hear God?
By whose standard are you living well?
The world's?
Passing away.
Or God's?
Eternal.
