Focused on Simplicity

What simplicity is: Focused.
"Understanding the significance of spiritual authenticity, we focus on it. We lock in on what is good and true. We bind ourselves to that which has eternal value. This does not mean that we do not wash our car or take out the garbage. But it does mean that we understand who God is and what His priorities for our lives are --and then follow them. It does mean that we focus intensely on seeking the Kingdom first, and on loving God and man. Without such focus, we drift."

What simplicity is not: Ascetic. (big word and not many of us could live this way)
"Asceticism rejects all possessions and argues that "things" are spiritually handicapping. While it is true that things can become spiritually inauthentic, they are not [inherently] evil. God is a good Creator, and He has created a whole world full of good things. It is not wrong to use them --they were made to be used. But our material appetites must be controlled."

(Margin, Richard Swenson)

Matthew chapter 6 facinates me as Jesus instructs me on simplicity in the Christian life. Prayer, clothing, relationships, money, and focus: He says, (22-23) "Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!"

What you choose to look at can determine your focus in life.

One of the steps I have taken in simplicity starts at the mailbox. When I collect the mail I sort it into three categories: important (bills, letters), magazine subscriptions and junk (advertisements, catalogs, credit card offers, etc.). The junk never makes it into the house as it goes into the recycle bin. The important stuff gets sorted again into a box for me and one for my husband.

About the magazine subscriptions. I realized a couple of years ago that the magazines I was subscribing to were actually creating an unrealistic need for "things" in my life. Does my house need to look like a photo shoot for Better Homes and Gardens? Do I need to cook with exotic ingredients like Cooking Light suggests? And then there was Martha Stewart: Living. Talk about unrealistic expectations.

Popular Mechanics, PC World, Field and Stream, NASCAR Today (I made that up), Sports Illustrated, etc. I am quite sure men are guilty of eye-candy as well ----eye candy is anything that looks really good and temps us to want.

My solution was to subscribe to one magazine and rotate them each year. If you subscribe long enough, you see articles repeated --just how many ways can you really arrange pillows on your bed? And what child needs to sleep in a $500 crib? Will that radar really help you find the best fishing spot(or is that cheating?)?

We do subscribe to magazines and publications that have a Christian world-view and keep us in tune with what is going on in the real world. What is really cool are the conversations that come up around the articles we read. Much more stimulating than the latest trends in baby gear or home electronics.

Think about what you look at. What television shows do you watch? What kind of movies do watch? What kind of music do you listen to? What magazines and books are you reading?

Are you seeing with Kingdom eyes? Are your eyes discerning the difference between Kingdom Come and the material world?

What are you focused on?

Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (NIV)

"The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being." (MSG)

Keep on keeping on....