Simple Life

With the economic downturn over the last few years, there’s been an increased interest in living a simplified life. Planting gardens, coupon clipping, staying home and playing games are all on the rise. People are getting back to the basics. Much to the dismay of movie theaters, eating establishments and other cost inhibiting activities, people are choosing to be conservative in their spending, hoping to protect the few assets that have endured this tough economy.

God’s Word tells us all about living the simple life. He cautions us to remain surrendered but telling us we need to be willing to leave parents and children in order to do His will. In the book of Matthew He comforts us by telling us not to worry about tomorrow because He will take care of it. Our heavenly Father gives us the instructions and permission to live a life of simplicity. In fact, He commands it. He calls us to lead a life of abandonment…willing to leave it all if needed to live for Him. But why?

In a recent missions conference I heard a missionary friend share about what missionaries could do if Christians made just a few changes to their spending. It was amazing what a few American dollars could do in a third world country. Perhaps the reason God desires the simple life from His children is so that we can be free to give and go. Is there anything more important than giving so others can hear the gospel or going where they’ve never heard? I don’t think so. But in recent years, our overindulgence in worldly pleasures has made it nearly impossible to give or go. With this shift towards a more simple life, could God be calling you to do something more? Imagine if we all decide these temporal things are just that—temporal—and decide to invest in something with eternal dividends? What a difference we could make…living the simple life.

PRAYER: Lord help me abandon all these early pursuits and invest in the eternal value of souls. Help me to see the world through Your eyes and focus on the lost discovering You.

“And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life,” Matthew 19:29 KJV.

Today’s devotion is written by Gina Anderson Stinson of Sulphur Springs, Texas, where her husband serves on staff at their local church. Gina is a wife, homeschooling mom, and work-from-home publicist assistant. She enjoys gardening, homemaking and spending time with friends and family. Read more at http://journalinggina.blogspot.com