Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 1 John 2:15
“Get thy heart as clear from the world as thou canst. Wholly lay by the thoughts of thy business, troubles, enjoyments, and every thing that may take up any room in thy soul. Get it as empty as thou possibly canst, that it may be the more capable of being filled with God.”
Richard Baxter (1615-1691) in The Saint’s Everlasting Rest (Grand Rapids, MI: CCEL) 157.
Perspective. That’s what I get when I read Baxter. Perspective. For example, to the wealthy who would often become complacent, he proclaimed, “the more you have, the more you have to give an account for” (Acton, Religion & Liberty 23.4). Such pointed truth motivated many in Kidderminster (where he pastored) to practice faithful stewardship!
To the masses, he urged them not to worry about what they did not have but to be faithful with all they had, saying: “Every one must give an account of his stewardship. Every talent of time, health, abilities, mercies, afflictions, means, warnings, must be reckoned for” (The Saint’s Everlasting Rest, 23).
Should his listeners ask themselves, “So how should I do this, pastor? How should I prepare to give an account?” He offers us thoughts akin to today’s meditation. I think he’d say “empty your hearts of the things of this world and set your affections on God alone.” This is good advice for me and for my seminary students in Chicago today, and I pray that it is helpful for you too.