"It is necessary that every man should consider, that, since God has given him an excellent nature, wisdom and choice, an understanding soul, and an immortal spirit; having made him lord over the beasts, and but a little lower than the angels; He has also appointed for him a work and a service great enough to employ those abilities, and has also designed him to a state of life after this, to which he can only arrive by that service and obedience."
"And therefore, as every man is wholly God's own portion by the title of creation, so all our labors and care, all our powers and faculties, must be wholly employed in the service of God, and even all the days of our life; that, this life being ended, we may live with Him for ever."
✦ A New Voice on the Road
A new mentor joins the Beloved Devotional — Jeremy Taylor, the 17th-century Anglican bishop, author of The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. Written in 1650, during a time of exile and upheaval — when Taylor himself was displaced, traveling, uncertain of what lay ahead. The pilgrim on the EN 2 reads a pilgrim from four centuries ago — and the instruction is the same.
✦ Wholly God's — By the Title of Creation
Every man is wholly God's own portion by the title of creation. Not partially. Not mostly. Wholly. And not by contract or agreement — by title. The title of creation. God made us. Therefore God owns us. The ownership is not earned or negotiated. It is original.
The Shema from July 18 — love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Moses said all. Taylor says wholly. The same totality. The same God. The same claim on the entire person. 🙏
"What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honour. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet."
"Qu'est-ce que l'homme, pour que tu te souviennes de lui? Et le fils de l'homme, pour que tu prennes garde à lui? Tu l'as fait de peu inférieur à Dieu, et tu l'as couronné de gloire et de magnificence. Tu lui as donné la domination sur les œuvres de tes mains, tu as tout mis sous ses pieds."
Psaume 8:4–6 · Louis Segond✦ Excellent Nature — Great Enough Service
Taylor sees the proportionality: God gave an excellent nature — wisdom, choice, an understanding soul, an immortal spirit. And He appointed a service great enough to employ those abilities. The nature is not wasted on trivial work. The soul that is a little lower than the angels was not made for small purposes.
Spurgeon's day eleven: humility is making a right estimate. The right estimate is not thinking less of yourself than you should. The right estimate is knowing what God gave you — and knowing it was given for His service, not your glory. 🙏
Even when things are new, the purpose never changes. I must serve God and take care of my husband to the best of my ability, all the days of my life. 🙏
✦ The Purpose Never Changes
The road is new — Santa Comba Dão today, Salamanca tomorrow. The language is new — l'Éternel instead of the Lord. The home will be new. But the purpose is the same purpose it was in Caldas, in Eymet, in Lubbock, in Brazil. Serve God. Take care of Roger. All the days.
Taylor wrote Holy Living during his own exile — displaced, uncertain, traveling. And the instruction he gave from the road is the instruction Le lives on the road: all our labors and care, all our powers and faculties — wholly employed. Even all the days.
To the best of my ability. Not measured by results but by faithfulness. The simplest calling in the world — and the hardest. Because all the days means there is no day off from the purpose. 🙏
"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
"Soit donc que vous mangiez, soit que vous buviez, soit que vous fassiez quelque autre chose, faites tout pour la gloire de Dieu."
1 Corinthiens 10:31 · Louis Segond✦ Whatever You Do — Do All
Paul says it in one verse: whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Taylor says it in a paragraph. Both say the same thing: the sacred and the secular are not separate departments. The eating is service. The drinking is service. The driving is service. The care of a husband is service. Whatever. All.
Guyon's day thirty-one: we are often more united to God in our daily avocations than in retirement. Le from July 19: I have not been closer to God as I am now. Taylor, Paul, Guyon, and Le — all saying the same thing from different centuries, different roads, different exiles: the purpose does not change when the location changes. 🙏
"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."
"Tout ce que vous faites, faites-le de bon cœur, comme pour le Seigneur et non pour des hommes, sachant que vous recevrez du Seigneur l'héritage pour récompense. Servez Christ, le Seigneur."
Colossiens 3:23–24 · Louis Segond✦ De Bon Cœur — With a Good Heart
The French says faites-le de bon cœur — do it with a good heart. Heartily. Not grudgingly. Not mechanically. With the fullness of a heart whose springs are in God. Spurgeon's day nine: all my springs are in You. The heart that is full at the Source serves with overflowing, not with obligation.
Servez Christ, le Seigneur. Serve Christ, the Lord. The service and the Served One — in one breath. 🙏
"Even when things are new, the purpose never changes."
Le · The EN 2 · Serve God · Take care of Roger · All the daysWholly God's
By the title of creation. Not partially, not mostly — wholly. The ownership is original. All labors, all powers, all faculties. All the days.
The Purpose Never Changes
New road, new language, new home. Same purpose. Serve God. Take care of Roger. To the best of my ability. The location changes. The calling does not.
De Bon Cœur
With a good heart. Heartily. Not grudgingly. Whatever you do — eat, drink, drive, serve — do all to the glory of God. The sacred and the secular are one.
A new mentor joins the Beloved Devotional — Jeremy Taylor, writing from his own exile four centuries ago.
Taylor and Guyon — exiled writers: Taylor wrote Holy Living while displaced during the English Civil War. Guyon wrote her Letters from the Bastille. Both wrote their deepest truths while displaced. Le reads them both while displaced — on the EN 2, heading toward Salamanca and France — and finds them speaking directly to her condition.
Wholly — the Shema connection: Taylor: wholly God's own portion. Moses: all your heart, all your soul, all your strength. Paul: whatever you do, do all. Three voices. One word: all.
Le's calling — the simplest and the hardest: Serve God and take care of my husband, to the best of my ability, all the days of my life. Taylor would recognize this immediately — the holy life lived not in a cathedral but on a road, not in extraordinary deeds but in faithful service. The best of my ability. All the days.
The devotional app — the journal on the road: Le now reads and meditates while traveling. The mornings before dawn no longer require four walls. The closet from Guyon's day one travels with the pilgrim — because the closet was never the room. It was the heart. And the heart is on the EN 2, heading north, wholly God's. 🙏