Episode #69 - Too Much of a Good Thing

Is there such thing as too much of a good thing? I found out today that certain is the case. We were putting together cabinets at the Leber's new home and I was supposed to lay down a thin layer of wood glue in the grooves before fastening the cabinets together. Well, I wen't a little overboard and made a huge mess. Less is more when it comes to glue. Well...self-control is not just about learning to stay away from bad things, but learning to limit the good things. Food is a good thing, but too much is a sin called gluttony. Alcohol has great medicinal benefits to the body, but too much is a sin called drunkenness. Rest is a good thing, but too much leads to slothfulness. Too much of a good thing really is not good at all. 

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Transcript

Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way. 

To begin with, I need to apologize for the lateness with which this podcast is being uploaded today. Our day was not at all what we had anticipated it to be. Our daughter had an endocrinology appointment in Lexington this week that I was certain was on Thursday. However, this morning around 11 am I received a notification on my phone that Ava’s appointment was today. I immediately called my wife and she checked the paperwork, sure enough it was today at 3 pm. So in a mad scramble, Kylie and I rearranged our day so that she could take Ava up for her appointment and labs and I could watch Dane for her. Needless to say, I am out late tonight working while Kylie gets the kids down so that I can catch up on a few things, including the podcast. That being said, I’ve got to tell you a story about what I was up to before I had to jet to go watch our son. One of our members, Jonathan Leber, has been very sick with Covid. In fact, everyone in his family got it except his wife Christi, but Jonathan got it the worst out of all of them. While he is not contagious anymore, he is still very fatigued and regaining his strength. The timing could not be worse, however, as he and his family close on their current home in the next few weeks and need to move into their new home they have been building. The past three weeks and the next three weeks Jonathan had planned out very accordingly to get everything done in time, but Covid threw a huge chink in that. Needless to say, it’s all hands on deck from different men here at the church to help get them in on time. So today I found myself building kitchen and bathroom cabinets with Randy Ratliff and Jonathan, which I will probably be installing and finishing up tomorrow. There are a lot of things to still do: finishing the trim, floor work, getting toilets, sinks, and appliances in, etc. But we’re going to get it all done. Now, I am no professional cabinet maker. I have never done finishing work, so all this morning I was needing to be taught how to assemble the cabinets. While I made a few mistakes a long the way, Jonathan was very patient with me. Randy, on the other hand, gave me a well deserved hard time for some of my dumb mistakes. In fact, today’s podcast comes from Randy, and it has to do with this. So, before you fit the different pieces of a cabinet together in the grooves they slide into and drive staples into them with a compressor, you are supposed to put a thin layer of wood glue down into those groves to help hold them together. Well, apparently I don’t do a “thin layer” very well, which is not a surprise. If I am putting butter, cream cheese, or peanut butter on anything, there is no such thing as a “thin layer” – more is always better. I want it oozing out of the side of my sandwich. That’s great with sandwiches, not so great with cabinets. I put the glue down and went to notch one side of the cabinet into the frame, when suddenly glue came squirting out everywhere. I had not laid down a thin layer, but a small river of wood glue that had now made an incredible mess. As Randy and I cleaned it up, our hands now cracked and sticky from all the glue, he looked at me and said, “I guess too much of a good thing really isn’t a good thing, is it?” How true that is Randy. To quote a classic line from a classic movie, Jumanji, “Well…a little rain never hurt anybody.” “Yeah, but a lot can kill you.”  

While Randy was poking fun at me for being a little bit too liberal with the wood glue, he brought out a very important point for us to remember in our spiritual walk pertaining to self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says, “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” Self-control is perhaps one of the hardest things for us to learn to master in our lives. When we act without control over our passions and desires, it is as though we have no walls, no defense against Satan and we invite him to walk right in and disrupt our lives. However, many times when we think of self-control, we think only of abstaining from bad things. We think about having control over our bodies and minds by abstaining from lusting after another man or woman. We think about having control over mouths by not gossiping, cursing, or tearing others down. However, self-control is not merely limited to staying away from that which his wrong. In many instances, self-control is about learning to limit even the good things in our lives. Scripture gives many different warnings about how too much of a good thing actually becomes a bad thing in our lives. Consider the following examples. Obviously, food is a good thing created for us from the beginning, and we are to give God thanks and enjoy our food and drink. Psalm 145:15 says, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.” However, too much of a good thing is not a good thing. In Scripture, gluttony is condemned, in fact it is equated with the drunkard – who likewise has no control over his consumption. Proverbs 23:20-21, “Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.” On that note, let’s talk about what Scripture clearly teaches about over consumption of alcohol. While there are certainly beneficial attributes behind the use of alcohol in moderation, such as for medicinal use when Paul told Timothy, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” (see 1 Timothy 5:23) – there are countless warnings about the abuse of alcohol and drunkenness. Galatians 5:19-21 speaks of the works of the flesh that condemn us, which includes drunkenness, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Rest is another good thing, in fact a Sabbath rest of even commanded by God to be observed by his people under the old covenant. However, too much of a good thing becomes a destructive thing the Bible refers to as slothfulness or laziness. Consider Proverbs 6:9-12, “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” Perhaps too much of a good thing really is a bad thing, but the solution to this is self-control. Just because you can does not mean that you should. As Paul instructed the Corinthians who claimed that all things were lawful, not all things are helpful nor should you be mastered by anything (see 1 Corinthians 6:12). Enjoy the good things that God has given to us; they are a blessing…but do not abuse them. All you need is a thin layer. Don’t go crazy, or it might just make a big mess of things in your life. 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.