Time to simplify! Once in awhile I get the urge to clean my house and sort through closets and drawers. Where did I get all this “stuff?” Recycle it! Throw it out! Send it to Goodwill! It feels great to have a house that is clean and clutter-free.

My husband is much better at this than I am, and not just in the area of household clutter. He seems to know how to keep life simple. He’s a man of wisdom—a good role model for me.

While God wants us to live a life of simplicity, it’s NOT what our society wants. So many things compete for our attention and meager resources, yelling at us from all directions like street vendors aggressively peddling their wares.

Whenever God gets crowded out of our lives, it doesn’t take long before we begin to suffer (much to our consternation). Once again our schedule is filled to overflowing. We seem to be constantly behind––constantly trying to catch up.

The spiritual discipline of simplicity reminds us to keep the main thing the main thing. Get quiet before the Lord. Settle down. Think clearly and eliminate the clutter. Get back to the essence of life. “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13).

“We have sinned against you, Lord, in thought, word and deed. We have tried to live with one foot in your kingdom and one foot in the world. We’ve used money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t even like. And the minute we pare back on our possessions or commitments, the empty spaces fill with something else. We have become hypocritical and double-minded, neglecting what has eternal value in our quest to ‘have it all.’ Forgive us, Lord.”

God wants us to desire just one thing: intimacy with Him. Let’s admit that our tendency is to complicate things. Ask the Lord to help us clear out the clutter of our lives, and forever aim to be simply His.