Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

–Luke 12:22-31 (TNIV)

Jesus is reminding us here to keep the Main Thing the main thing. What is the Main Thing? It ain’t riches or power or fame or any of the other human delusions. The Main Thing is having a relationship with Life. Without a relationship with God, none of us has real life. Sure, we have our temporary mortal existence and our bag of delusions, but the latter die when our bodies die.

Living in a world of instantaneous communication and fast-paced living accelerates our already sad tendency to be distracted. This, in turn, exacerbates our inability to keep the Main Thing the main thing. If you are really interested in keeping the Main Thing the main thing, then slow down. Become intentional in engaging in the means of grace–Bible study and prayer, regular worship and Christian fellowship. You will have to work hard at it but you will be working toward life, not death. And let’s face it. Aren’t the things most precious to us in this life the things that we had to work the hardest to obtain?

We often hear the criticism that the Church is afflicted with piety, but the real trouble is that its piety is not deep enough! Since the materials are available, all that is needed is the recognition of where they are, and the will to employ them. An important contribution would be the liberation of the term “piety” from its present damaging connotations, reinstating it as a term of respect. We, indeed, still have a little piety; we say a few hasty prayers; we sing meaningfully a few hymns; we read snatches from the Bible. But all of this is far removed from the massive dose that we sorely need if we are to be the men and women who can perform a healing service in our generation. The seat of our disease, says Helmut Thielicke, “is not in the branches of our nerves at all but rather in our roots which are stunted and starved.” The eloquent German points out that Martin Luther prayed four hours each day “not despite his busy life but because only so could he accomplish his gigantic labors.” Luther worked so hard that a little desultory praying would not suffice. “To work without praying and without listening,” continues Thielicke, “means only to grow and spread oneself upward, without striking roots and without an equivalent in the earth.” Trees can grow well in rocky soil, as I can attest by looking out the window of my mountain writing cabin, but they do this only by finding crevices in the rocks where the roots are able to penetrate deeply.

–Elton Trueblood, The New Man for Our Time

I see that when you praise love you shout out. But just as it pleases you when you praise love may it so please you that you preserve it in your heart. Love is praised by you; it pleases you. Well, have it, possess it! There is no need for you to steal it from anyone. There is no need for you to consider buying it. It stands available at no cost. Take hold of it, embrace it. Nothing is sweeter than love. If it is delicious to talk about, what is it like when it is possessed?

–Augustine, Commentary on the Epistle of John, 7.10.2

Basically humility is the attitude of one who stands constantly under the judgment of God. It is the attitude of one who is like the soil. Humility comes from the Latin word humus, fertile ground. The fertile ground is there, unnoticed, taken for granted, always there to be trodden upon. It is silent, inconspicuous, dark and yet it is always ready to receive any seed, ready to give it substance and life. The more lowly, the more fruitful, because it becomes really fertile when it accepts all the refuse of the earth. It is so low that nothing can soil it, abase it, humiliate it; it has accepted the last place and cannot go any lower. In that position nothing can shatter the soul’s serenity, its peace and joy.

–Anthony Bloom, Living Prayer

The man who is proud of anything he thinks he has reached, has not reached it. He is but proud of himself, and imagining a cause for his pride. If he had reached, he would already have begun to forget. He who delights in contemplating whereto he has attained, is not merely sliding back; he is already in the dirt of self-satisfaction. The gate of the kingdom is closed, and he outside. The man who does not house self has room to be his real self–God’s eternal idea of him. He lives eternally; in virtue of the creative power present in him with momently unimpeded creation, he is. How should there be in him one thought of ruling or commanding or surpassing! He can imagine no bliss, no good in being greater than some one else. He is unable to wish himself other then he is, except more what God made him for, which is indeed the highest willing of the will of God. His brother’s well-being is essential to bliss. The thought of standing higher in the favor of God than his brother would make him miserable. He would lift every brother to the embrace of the Father. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they are of the same spirit as God, and of nature the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

—Life Essential

It has been my observation that all great praying people are simple, relaxed people. Mrs. Thomas A. Edison once said to me, “Mr. Edison’s methods are just like yours. He is always perfectly natural and always perfectly relaxed. He feels that all of his discoveries have ‘come through him,’ that he is but a channel for forces greater than himself.” Always natural, and always relaxed! I do not like to see people work too hard at their prayers. Beware lest the zeal of thy house shall eat thee up. When one strains and labors over his dream he is too often carving ivory and not polishing horn. Don’t cut too deeply, don’t carve too hard, don’t paint the picture too much yourself. Get still awhile, and let God paint it through you. Wrote Gutzon Borglum, “When I carve a statue, it is very simple. I merely cut away the pieces that don’t belong there and the statue itself presently comes into view. It was there all the time.”

–Glenn Clark, I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes