I'm still playing catch up with C.S. Lewis. His notes for January 29-31 deal with a great temptation for the Christian - to try and reach the bare minimum requirements to be a good Christian. He likens our approach in this temptation to being a tax payer. "Our temptation is to look eagerly for the minimum that will be accepted. We are in fact very like honest but reluctant taxpayers. We approve of an income tax in principle. We are very careful to pay no more than is necessary. And we hope - we very ardently hope - that after we have paid it there will still be enough left to live on" (Lewis, The Weight of Glory).
He talks about going to God in his daily devotions and proceeding with caution. He wants to have that experience with God, but he hopes that God doesn't ask him to do anything that will too seriously disrupt his 'normal' life. Lewis sees this as the temptation to hang on to the temporal things in life instead of grasping for the eternal. I know that I am guilty of this, quite guilty. Lord, help me not to achieve the bare minimum. Help me to not grasp for the temporal at the sake of the eternal.
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