Paul says in I Timothy 2:1-2, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”

According to scripture, the quiet and peaceable life is one worthy of pursuit. Most of the time, it’s more than bad civil government that keeps us from enjoying it. In America, we can experience political freedom, but still be bogged down with stress, spiritual baggage, materialism, and the never-satisfied desire to “keep up with the Joneses.” 

Today, we’re examining the simple life. What is it? Why do we need it? How can we find it?

The Simple Life Defined

The simple life is not the stressed life. Rather, the simple life is the blessed life lived in gratitude to God.

Ecclesiastes teaches that life is worthless if lived for self, but worthwhile, if lived for Christ. The book also exhorts believers to gratefully enjoy God’s gifts.

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 goes like this, “I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of his labour, it is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 9:9 says, “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which He hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.” 

As Warren Wiersbe points out, “This is not the pleasure seeking philosophy of the Epicurean (“eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die”), but the joyful outlook of the believer who accepts life as God’s gift to enjoy and employ for His glory.”

Why We Need The Simple Life

“In 1967, testimony before a Senate subcommittee claimed that by 1985 people could be working just twenty-two hours a week or twenty-seven weeks a year or could retire at age thirty-eight” (from Margin, by Richard Swenson).

Obviously that never happened. Why?

The past 150 years, technology freed us up from washing laundry by hand, building a fire to cook our meals, hitching up the horses before going to town, or sawing a board without power tools. At the same time, technology gave us more bills to pay, more things to do in that extra time, and far more choices to make.

Last evening, we had an older friend over for dinner. He reflected that in his growing up days, when people had less money, they bought fewer things, and were more content with what they had. Today, we have more, but we’re less satisfied with it.

We’ll never find the simple life, unless we first return to God’s purpose. We were created to glorify Him, to work, to rest, to share His Word with other, to let Him transform our lives. 

How To Find the Simple Life

After a blessed 1 1/2 years singing and ministering with my family, the Bontrager Family Singers, Cassidy and I chose to come off the road.

Since then, the past few months, I’ve discovered I don’t have to be in front of audiences every single night to make an impact.

In fact, the simple, everyday activities of my life can glorify God. Milking cows, building Jenga towers for Wallace to topple, sitting on the couch with my wife, reading a good book, sharing Christ with a truck driver, experiencing the sights and sounds of early morning while spending time with God—these simple things are eternally worthwhile. 

Richard Swenson observed, “Busyness is not a synonym for Kingdom work– It is only busyness. All activities need to be assessed as to their spiritual authenticity… We must have God-authored criteria with which we judge our activities, and we must be willing to use them.”

Thoughtfully ponder the following questions:

• Why do I do what I do? Is my motivation God-centered, or self or others-centered?
• At the end of life, how many of the things that I did will truly matter for eternity?
• Am I faithfully stewarding the simple, important things, God has put in my life?

If you live the simple life, it may appear that you accomplish less than your frantic friends and neighbors. But the important things you do for God will last forever.

Question: As believers, how do we discern between busyness and Kingdom work?