August 13

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.” — Ps 143:10

There are so many possibilities in life, in attainment and achievement, and so many opportunities of doing good, that it is a glorious thing to live. Surely, then, we ought to make the most of our life, not failing to become what Christ would have us to be, or to do the sweet things he would have us do–as we pass along the way.

Yet life’s lessons must always be learned slowly. Paul was well on in life when he said, “I have learned, in whatever state I am, therein to be content.” The words suggest that the lesson was not easily learned; that it required time and struggle. It is only fair to infer that Paul could not have written thus in his earliest epistles. There is comfort in this for us common mortals, who in younger or middle life grow discouraged because we have not Paul’s contentment. If only we are really learning the lesson, there is hope that some day we shall be able to say we have learned it.