Edwards desire for personal discipline began with a fundamental commitment to live life to the fullest. He refused to be content with mere existence, simply going through the motions of meaningless activities. For Edwards, true living necessitated personal discipline in every area of the Christian life. For this reason, Edwards wrote his sixth resolution that he never would live the Christian life in halfhearted complacency, but always would be pressing forward to greater degrees of godliness. He wrote: 6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live. This short resolution says much about Edwards. He was willing to commit the entirety of his being to his pursuit of holiness. He would live wholeheartedly for Christ, tolerating no side loyalties or competing allegiances. He would pour all his energies into every endeavor as long as he lived. He would never allow himself to grow slack in his pursuit of Gods will, but would entirely engage in all that he undertook for Christ. Edwards purposed that he would really live. Wherever he was, he would be all there (Steven J. Lawson, The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards, 106-07).
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 12:33:22 +0000