MODERATION

Moderation

“Often times a person’s outer resources multiply at the cost of their spiritual energy. Yet many tines they go blindly forward with small consideration that happy leisure is worth more than drive; for nothing belongs to us except time. Precious existence is squandered in useless drudgery.

“Overwork is the mother of greed and the substitute for boredom.

“Be not crushed under success, and be not crushed under envy! To be so is to trample upon life and suffocate the spirit. Enjoy a little more, strive a little less. The wise man extends his life‘s work to prolong his life.”

At age 70, can you imagine anyone lamenting: “If only I had spent more time at the office and less time at church and home!“

I hardly think so.

So… just what is success?

Well, to win the track and field event known as the “pentathlon,” it is not necessarily triumphing in any one of the five events that guarantees the prize. Rather, it is adequately excelling in each event well enough to garner the highest aggregate score.

So it is in the game of life: Success may be defined as placing God at the center of our lives, and then balancing the remaining competing demands around Him:

Like a teenager surfing the waves of Waikiki, maintaining balance in life is the continual act of adroitly adjusting to life’s changing demands and circumstances. The ability to understand the balance, and then respond by making the necessary adjustments is only possible by maintaining a clear orientation to Biblical values and priorities.

Perhaps Solomon’s wise counsel is appropriate in this situation:

Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.  (Prov 23:4)

Or perhaps this:

For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?  (Luke 9:25)