Purpose

A Simple Life of Worship

A Simple Life of Worship

It’s not easy to live simply. It’s much easier to get wrapped up in the cult of consumerism that pervades our American culture. I attribute this to the fact that most of us live in excess. If you’re reading this in all likelihood your basic needs are met and you probably have several things in your closet that you’ve forgotten are even there. We are used to having more than we need. Living simply takes practice if only becomes so much of our social interactions are built upon giving and receiving. Everywhere we go we get stuff – whether its groceries, gas, or promotional trinkets for the hometown football team.

However, living simply is a great remedy for many of the supposed problems we face. When you don’t have a lot of stuff, you don’t worry about it breaking. Maintenance concerns cease to exist and you don’t have to buy all the things necessary to care for what you already have. Reducing how much stuff you accumulate not only reduces your concerns, but it puts fewer constraints on relationship, it helps keep work and money in the proper perspective and it generally makes contentedness easier to achieve.

Living simply, however, is about more than just possessing fewer things. In my view, it is about enjoying the ordinariness of life, finding beauty in the commonplace, laughing often and recognizing that the cares of this world are temporal. When one is not distracted by the worries of Earth, it’s easier to keep our eyes on our Savior – the One who should be the object of our time, attention and worship, anyway. Worship, in its essence, is acclaiming that which already exists – namely that God is God and we’re not. There’s nothing more simple than that.

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Purpose

The Age of Transition

The Age of Transition

Becoming an adult is not all it’s cracked up to be. First, you never really arrive. Second, unlike any other time in life, “what’s next” is never clearly defined. Thirdly, there’s all those bills you have to pay. Like Meredith observed on Grey’s Anatomy, although there’s more freedom, there’s a ton of responsibility. And sometimes, responsibility is hard to bear.

In talking with people who are at a similar life stage that I’m at, I realize that many of them are struggling to define their adult years. For most of history, this has been the age where people get married, have families and start a stage in life where they are caring for others. If adulthood didn’t look like that, it almost certainly was about establishing yourself in a chosen profession and working your way to the next promotion. In a time where unmarried households have now surpassed married ones, and multiple places of employment is considered a good thing, this expectancy is rarely ever met.

The sad thing is that many young adults struggle during this time because they feel incomplete. They don’t know where they are being led or what their future will look like. Recently, as I’ve been reading through the Gospels, I’ve been struck how in both Mark and Luke it says when Jesus was tempted the Spirit had led him out into the desert. I’m a firm believer that God doesn’t tempt us (see the book of James), but I do believe that God leads us to places where we have to rely and trust in Him. For many of us, transitioning into adulthood is such a time as this.

When Jesus was in the desert He didn’t have any of the comforts of Earth – no friends, no food, and no shelter. What He did have, He depended upon solely – namely communion with His Heavenly Father. It was through this process of being stripped of everything but trust in God and in His promises that He was prepared for His future ministry.

We think upon becoming an adult that our preparation is complete – that we should be ready to unleash on the world all the greatness that is us. But this is rarely the case. Instead, God often needs to refine us further so that we are willing to lay aside the dreams we had for our life in order to follow His call. He needs to strip us of what we have to give us that which we could never dream. It is for our good and His glory.

Oh, and in case you’re starting to feel a little behind schedule and are wondering when God will reveal His great plan for your life -Jesus was 30 when He was led into the desert. His Earthly ministry lasted just three years. And He changed the world.

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