Moderation

As I sit down today to begin this blog I find myself with a lot on my mind. You might be in the same place. There is certainly enough for us to deal with in our own lives without any additional issues the world might interject.

I was talking with a young pastor recently and he indicated that he gets much of his knowledge of what is going on from X. He mentioned that he reminded his church family to be careful of what they listen to and how long they listen. That is some very good counsel he is sharing with his church.

His concern and caution is that extended periods of attention can also have negative affects. He is so right because everything should be in moderation. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines moderation as avoiding extremes of behavior or expression: observing reasonable limits. The Bible reminds us about moderation and Solomon wrote much as to moderation in the Book of Ecclesiastes. In chapter 2 verse 10 he said-

…“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward of all my toil”

In the day of Solomon as today, there are countless people who say the same thing. This is not a lost person vs saved person condition. We are all subject to the affects of not denying ourselves. We should deny ourselves and be moderate in how we go about our lives at every level.

Unfortunately, we are all prone to excess and that excess in the wrong areas of life can have negative affects. I would imagine you have your own thoughts of what the excesses are which you face in your life. It doesn’t have to be something we might think is bad. It can be overindulgences which in and of themselves are no problem. However, when indulging too much and too often can cause harm.

Proverbs 30:13 says that sleep can be an overindulgence-

“Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare”

I would imagine you never saw that one coming. Well, there are others that might be more known as we see in Proverbs 23:19-21 where it mentions gluttony directly. In giving wisdom to those who would avoid self-induced hardship, the wise man says,

“Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path: Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

Moderation in all things is much preferred over gluttony as we see in Proverbs 28:7-

The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.

It doesn’t have to be sleep or gluttony for you, but it can be something else. Care in moderation is paramount for us all in every area of our lives.

Our daily focus needs to be on the Lord, the Word, and neither should be in moderation.

Proverbs 3:6 says-

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths”

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that-

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

That makes it perfectly clear that by spending time each day in the Word we are hearing from God. In doing so, we will have that positive affect on our life which can guide us.

In God’s Grace,

Elbert Nasworthy