Continuing from a previous post, teachings of Jerry Sittser, of November 21, 2019, * All is Vanity, Except. . .
Francis de Sales, known during his lifetime in the seventeenth century as a wise counselor and master of the spiritual life, believed that the effects of true devotion, which he defined as living one’s whole life for God, would naturally spill over into the rest of one’s life and erase any distinction between what is religious and what is secular. Such devotion would influence and transform every area of one’s life as varnish adds a beautiful sheen to everything it covers.
- True devotion does one better. Not only does it not spoil any sort of life situation or occupation, but on the contrary enriches it and makes it attractive. Devotion makes the care of the family peaceful, the love of husband and wife more sincere, the service of the ruler more loyal, and every sort of occupation more pleasant and more lovable. 20
There is a second reason for ambiguity of Jesus’ words in seeking God’s will. They prevent us from putting off obedience to God until some later time. When Jesus taught “Seek first God’s kingdom” and “Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day,” he was insisting that we treat the present moment as the proper time—the only time, really—to honor and serve God. It is not enough to refrain from worrying about the future beyond our control; rather, we should be fully present to what is immediately at hand, like a child playing her favorite game on a beautiful summer day. If we associate God’s will with some great work we hope to do in the future, it is so easy to overlook the little works we can and should be doing every day. It is far too convenient to use our future aspirations (e.g. “What a wonderful contribution I will make as a surgeon.”) as an excuse for neglecting to serve God in the present.
College students are notorious for claiming the right to sow “wild oats” during their college years because they assume they will take a more serious turn when, as adults, they enter the “real” world and begin careers, marry, and raise children. But such a decision to put off doing the will of God can form bad habits. We put it off until we get our first job. Then we decide to wait until we get married and have children. Then we excuse ourselves until we settle comfortably into middle age. In other words, we continue to postpone doing God’s will until there is no time left. It’s never now; it’s always later.
But the time to do the will of God is now—always now and never later. As I tell my children, “You will never find it easy to love your siblings, at least not at first. It will only get easy with practice. So you might as well start now.
If anything, the sooner we get started, the better it will be—for us, not for God. (Continued. . . True Devotion II)
~Jerry, The Will of God as a Way of Life ~ Jerry Sittser, the Will of God as a Way of Life (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2000,2004) p.37-38
