Simplify – Reduce

9.29.2010

Luke 12:31 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. ESV

Luke recorded this a little different than Matthew did – Luke recorded Jesus saying, “Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” Matthew records, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Mt 6:33) So whether it is first or at all, seek God; because the sum of our life will be measured in the effort we put into our seeking Him, not in how much stuff we own.

I think, here in the Land o' Plenty, we delude ourselves like the rich fool who tore down his old barns and built new ones that were bigger and better to house all of his ever-growing pile of stuff. I don’t think he owned his stuff, it owned him because it dictated to him how he should live and how he would spend his time and resources: bigger buildings, more storage. Sounds American if you ask me…

I got stuff. I got so much stuff I think sometimes it has me. When I read these words, I think simplify. I think reduce. I think, Lord help me! And I don’t even own a boat, or an RV, or a four-wheeler… but I got stuff and for many years now I’ve believed that the more stuff I had the happier I’d be. I think it’s time to go through the stuff again and see what it is I think is so important that I can’t part with it.

Father in Heaven,
Life is about seeking You not heaping up piles of stuff. Life is about seeking You not eating, drinking, and being merry. Life is about learning lessons, not running from them, denying them, and hiding them with distractions. Lord, may I pay attention to You and focus my gaze on eternal things. Father, help me to strategically simplify that I may be more free to seek You with my time, my talents, and my treasures. Amen.