I very much enjoy having a plain and simple life. There was a time when I wanted to show off what I had because that is how the world works. You buy things. You tell people what you bought. You shove it right in their face because then you look good. But really, are you good? Is this thing bringing value to your life? Not one bit. I am so grateful that I learned the true value of life. I am so thankful God has shown me how to have a full life.
In today’s verse we read that a “showy life is an empty life.” To have a lot of things to boast about really won’t get you very far and one day it will all disappear. You can fight long and hard to keep these things that never are YOUR things in the first place, but what a waste of life, what “an empty life” it will be for you. Today people enter my home and they comment about how little I have in my home. They comment about how small the place is and how plain it looks. I tell them it suits me. You see, I don’t want to get too comfortable here. This is not my home. As I downsized my things and focused more on God, my life became simpler and I can say it is a much fuller life. I can spend time with my kids more. I can read God’s Word more. I can do things rather than work overtime. I can live rather than walk like a zombie through life. I can be active in the world, minster to many, rather than pretend to have it all together because I have a lot of stuff.
Don’t get me wrong—it is okay to own things; just don’t let those things own you. I pray that if your life is currently empty, that you will allow the Holy Spirit to show you how to fill it up. It’s possible—only through Him.
“A pretentious, showy life is an empty life;
a plain and simple life is a full life.”
-Proverbs 13:7 [MSG]
Tania Gutekunst 