I borrowed this from one of my favorite bible commentaries:

In Lk.16:8 the lesson is that the sons of this world are wiser in their generation than the sons of light. That means that, if only the Christian was as eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the man of the world is in his attempt to attain money and comfort, he would be a much better man. If only men would give as much attention to the things which concern their souls as they do to the things which concern their business, they would be much better men. Over and over again a man will expend twenty times the amount of time and money and effort on his pleasure, his hobby, his garden, his sport as he does on his church. Our Christianity will begin to be real and effective only when we spend as much time and effort on it as we do on our worldly activities.  (Barclay’s Bible Commentary)

I think back to my own life and draw from my own experience as I contemplate this saying.  I wonder about how often I have laid awake at night worrying about some sin I had committed and how I had damaged my relationship with God.  That hasn’t happened often enough.  And then I think about how many times I have worried more about how my sin might be discovered and I be subjected to shame and ridicule among my friends and family and the consequences of my sin in this life than I have worried about how I may suffer eternal consequences.  So, I am ashamed to admit that I worry more about what people think of me than I do about what God thinks of me.  A better Christian man would likely have his priorities in better order.

How often so we all plot and plan and scheme how to achieve some goal related to career, or hobby or some pet scheme while we give scarcely a thought, much less an effort, to purposely growing in our devotional life.

Jesus gathered his 12 Disciples and commissioned them and sent them out to do ministry and he gave them instructions and advice among which was this: (Matt 10:16) “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.(ESV)  It seems that I am much better at being wise as a serpent than I am at being innocent as a dove.  On the other hand there are those have so sheltered themselves and protected themselves from the more brutal side of life that they are of little practical use.  I often wonder about the 20 something young seminary graduate who tries to counsel a mature married couple on the delicate balance required to navigate modern family life.  The fact is that we are called to be both in and of this life and also in and of the next life.

At Ascension and St. Mark’s we are coming up on Stewardship season and I am reminded of how we must somehow learn to live that balanced life where: “Upon earth you are in charge of things which are not really yours. You cannot take them with you when you die. They are only lent to you. You are only a steward over them. They cannot, in the nature of things, be permanently yours. On the other hand, in heaven you will get what is really and eternally yours. And what you get in heaven depends on how you use the things of earth. What you will be given as your very own will depend on how you use the things of which you are only steward.”

It is important therefore, that we learn to navigate in two streams simultaneously.  We must never forget our eternal home and allow that reality to direct our hearts and minds while remembering that we must live and work temporarily in a place that is hostile territory to God and His servants.  We must learn to live with one foot on earth and one foot in heaven without losing our balance.