30 Days of Growing. Too righteous.

Do not be overly righteous,

Nor be overly wise:

Why should you destroy yourself?

17Do not be overly wicked,

Nor be foolish:

Why should you die before your time?

18It is good that you grasp this,

And also not remove your hand from the other;

For he who fears God will escape them all.

Solomon. Ecclesiastes 7:16-18. Hi, it’s Nathan, and this is Day 10 of 30 Days of Growing. Don’t be too righteous or too bad. On first pass, we do a double take, wondering if someone’s pulled a fast one on us. But no, the writer really, actually said that. He actually said we can go too far to the right or left. Now, I think you’d readily agree that he’s not writing a blank check to cash in on whatever evil passion we might secretly wish to pursue unchecked, but he is saying something about balance, common sense. There are times when some of us—maybe all of us—stray outside the lines of common sense. Expending precious resources either striving to reach a level of polish and excellence that’s frankly ridiculous or letting our guard down so low we’re walking outside of God’s will. Listen: overweight? Get on an exercise plan—but don’t try to be a super-model, and side-line other parts of your life that matter. Ok, so maybe super-model aspirations have NEVER crossed your mind. You’re very content to lie around and surf the web. Well, that life-style will literally kill-you-off early. Bottom line: there’s stuff you should never do, stuff you should always do—and a space in the middle where common sense should have a say. Aim to live your life in that space.