Simplicity!

Have you ever taken the time to sit and ponder the benefits of simplicity? The Sweet thing and I are in the middle of getting ready to move again. We decided to get an early jump on it and go thru and look at all the things that have started to clutter our lives. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to just accumulate stuff…. Clothes, shoes, furniture, tools, electrical wires, CDs fo just about every kind. They clutter our lives. My question is why might that not be a good thing?

I think it might not be good because simplicity is an obstacle to greed. It seems to be a law of nature that the more one has, the more one wants. We buy stuff, then we buy stuff to put the previous stuff on or in. Then we have to clean ad maintain not only the stuff, but the stuff that holds the stuff. Then we have to buy insurance for the stuff just in case a fire or a, natural disaster or a burglar decides to take that stuff from us.

For me I have noticed that the more stuff I have the less time I seem to have for the really important things I need to be doing for our King. The more I have the less flexible I am. In the end, I think I have discovered that for me when I am not vigilant over my heart, rather than possessing things very quickly things possess me. The dictate to me who much I need to work, how much I need to play, where I can live, which relationships I can foster, what I can give away, what I can keep.

I was struck this morning when I did a little word study on the word “simple” or simplicity. It finds its origins in the greek word for “single-mindedness.” That may be above all a good reason to keep it simple, so that we might be single-minded for our King. I am not presupposing that everyone wrestles with these matters like I do, but for me it is a serious matter.

I think that I am going to adopt the same practice as watchman Nee. Watchman Nee once said that the way he conquered materialism in his life was by making a lifetime commitment to only buy something for himself when he had enough money to buy two. When he would have enough money to buy two, he would buy one for himself and one for someone else. For some reason that really resonates with my heart.

Let’s pursue simple, single-minded lives, devoted to following Christ and making disciples for Him.