I’ve had an old Margaret Becker song (“Find Me”) stuck in my head for several days. The lyric for the part playing on an endless loop in my head says, “I’m gonna give away my stereo / Give away my TV / I’m going back to essentials, a chair and a lamp / And the Book that You wrote to me”. What have we given up in our crazy distracting, device-happy, and electronics fueled world?
If you live in the West like me, I’m going to guess you have no shortage of “stuff”. You have no shortage of distractions. But what have we forgotten, and what have we lost? What if we took it back to essentials, just a chair, a lamp, and a Bible. Wouldn’t that be more than enough? Wouldn’t we actually be more fulfilled and happier?
The next lines in the song are even more poignant and echo my deep desire to know God with all I am. It says, “You see, I’m looking for the You that used to speak so clear / I’m looking for the me that had a heart to hear / And I’m looking for the passion that held me here / On the edge / You see, I’m looking for the me that I used to know / I’m looking for the love that was out of control / ‘Cause I feel a little cold here in the afterglow”. How many of us once burned with a passion for Christ we couldn’t contain? It burned so hot we thought it would never go out. But it did. Now we feel distant and long to regain what we’ve lost. We are indeed feeling a little cold in the afterglow.
There is something about the simplicity of sitting quietly with God. Whether in prayer or reading His Word, something stirs within our souls. We know this is the place where we belong. We understand we are communing with the beautiful Creator and Savior of all things. What I’ve found I experience more often than not is a deep longing to not leave that place. I don’t want to leave the moment until I’ve fully grasped all I can from it. Just a chair, a lamp, a Bible and the enduring presence of the One who I love more than life. Moments like these must be sought and they must be cherished.
It appears simplicity has become taboo in our modern society. We’re supposed to be busy, not quiet; belligerent, not silent. Within all the noise it is essential we carve out moments to spend with Jesus. He alone has the power to save us and to restore all things into the beautiful and perfect state He designed. There is no hope without Jesus. There is no truth or love. All these things flow from His character and His being. We need nothing more than what He provides. All our other “stuff” is just a distraction, a clever ruse perpetrated by Satan himself. We don’t need any of it. Get rid of it all. Try the simplicity of a chair, a lamp, and the presence of God. Never underestimate what a simple moment might do in your life and in our world.