Avoid Excess

“Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess baggage, the shorter the trip.”

—ARNOLD H. GLASGOW

Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger] seeking someone to seize upon and devour.

—1 Peter 5:8

Someone once said, “Excess is the devil’s playground.” Any time we become excessive in anything, we are no longer in balance. According to God’s Word, a lack of balance opens the door for the devil. One of the main things the devil wants to do is steal our joy and push us toward excess. Having anything in amounts beyond our capacity for use complicates our life. It’s like watching a small child put his hand in a cookie jar and insisting on pulling out many at once. He is unable to physically remove his hand from the jar, so both his hand and the cookies are stuck! Excess gets complicated!

If you want a simple approach to life, balance is required. Excessive talking causes problems. Excessive eating causes problems. Excessive debt causes problems. Excess is just a problem.

The Bible talks about a process called pruning (see Isaiah 18:5). When the gardener finds one of his trees has excessive or diseased branches, he trims them or cuts them off. Some of the excess branches are referred to as “sucker branches.” They grow on the lower part of the tree trunk and, although they suck sap from the tree, they never add to the tree’s value because these branches cannot bear fruit. The gardener actually has to get rid of them or they will make the entire tree weak and unattractive.

I remember once when Dave had one of our trees pruned. It was cut back so far I was sure he killed it. I was very aggravated and thought the tree looked positively horrible. He told me if I was patient, the next spring it would be prettier than ever. And sure enough, because the tree was pruned and the excess and useless growth removed, it turned out to be the most attractive tree in our yard.

Don’t be afraid to cut back on what you don’t really need. I believe it opens the door for God to bless you even more. If you have more possessions than you can possibly use, share them with someone who doesn’t have enough. By doing this, you will plant seed for a future harvest in your own life.

There are other excesses we experience other than the material ones. If you need to lose some weight, cut back on your portions and you will gradually see a difference. If you frequently have trouble in relationships due to things you say, you may need to talk a little less and listen a whole lot more. Say no to excess and yes to removing the complexity from your life today.