When I retired I had to move everything from my office into my apartment. A lot of stuff had to be given away or disposed of. I find now that I am not looking to buy more things, but to get rid of them. It’s not just things I am shedding from my life.  I have dropped memberships in organizations. I have cut back on commitments. I am working at making life simpler.

The discipline of simplicity is not just shedding things from life, but bringing life to a focus in God. I am convinced that the fragmenting of life is destructive to the soul. We are pulled in many directions by many demands. If there is nothing at our center to hold life together, we are pulled apart. For me it is the love of God that has to be the unifying principle of life. As Luther explains the first commandment, “We must fear, love and trust in God above all else.”

Jesus taught simplicity. For example, “Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool . . . Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:34-37).  Or as you read last week when Jesus sends out his disciples,  “Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff.”  (Matthew 10:9-10).

Keep it simple. Love God.

Wayne

Read Psalm 27:1-5 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally