Temperance is balance. Remember Goldilocks and the three Bears? Goldilocks may have been a naughty girl to intrude on the bear family, but what was she after? One chair was too high, one chair was too low, but one was just right. One bowl was too hot one was too cold but one was just right. One bed was too hard, one bed was too soft, but one was just right. She was after "just right." Temperance is achieving "just right."

Temperance is about balance. Much of our society is sprint to the goal line, cram for the test, make the deadline and make it happen yesterday. Our culture does not seek balance, but cries "faster, richer, farther, plusher, more, more." What do you do once you get to the next level? Race to the next.

It does not matter where we focus our energies—home, school, business or pleasure—most of us have too much to do on our to do list. These may be our own expectations, or the expectations of others (like a boss). The business people say that the average person would need almost 2 weeks of work to catch up if they were allowed just to catch up. Business responds by giving tools to work faster. That is not the problem. The problem is we have too much on our plates. And too much is too much.

Then there is the whole angle of advertising and commerce. It tries to convince us that we really need that double cheeseburger at 11PM, that we really need to upgrade to the sportier version in our clothes, cars, houses, whatever. I don’t really need to give examples. The whole economy is based on us buying things that we really don’t need. And I am now the proud owner of some of those things. Sometimes I learn that too much of a good thing is still too much. That fourth piece of pizza will come back to haunt you, sometimes literally.

So will the long days of work, work, work without rest, without prayer, without peace. The lesson that we need as Americans and especially as Christian is this: too much of a good thing is still too much. The Scriptures say it this way. Have you found honey? Eat just enough. Too much of it and you will vomit (Pr 25:16). So much of our training by our culture is to push for more rather than have just enough. We don’t even know what enough might be. We are a culture out of balance. What stops us from considering our need to be balanced? What works against temperance? And how can we gain this virtue of temperance?

Consider what God has done. Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy. When times are bad, consider. God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore a man cannot discover anything about his future (v 13).

This is saying that God is in control. We want to make sure that we will cover every contingency, so we over plan and over work, little realizing we are not in control—God is. There will be things you cannot change no matter how hard you push. When times are good, be thankful. When they are difficult, be thoughtful. You can’t control what is coming next. You can’t predict what is coming next. But God can because God is in control.

One reason that we resist temperance and balance is because we don’t have enough trust in God. God said, "I will take care of you." But we work long hours to provide extra just in case God forgets us. God said that we are part of his family, adopted as his children, but we scurry around hoping to make a name for ourselves just in case the name God gives doesn’t work out. God said he would fulfill our true longings yet we tire ourselves out with all of our amusements and travel just in case God fails us.

How do you learn the virtue of temperance? How do you learn to live a balanced life? First, stop chasing fulfillment in something other than Christ. We over work because we want to achieve something that work will not fill. We want status, or some new gismo, or a nest egg that no dip in the market can touch. We overplay because we want peace or joy or love and we hope that the thrill of our play will give it to us. We over drink, over medicate and overeat for the same reasons. We need to find our rest in Christ alone.

We also learn the virtue of temperance by regularly looking at the patterns we live in. We need to get perspective on what is important. Having and using a day planner is not just good business sense—it is good spiritual sense. Are you spending your time and energy on the things that matter most to you? Are you keeping things in their proper perspective? One great way to do that is to start your week with worship, and to start and end your day with prayer.