Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Peace”
Our Bible verse for today: “God has made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV)
Our thought for today: ‘There is peace in simplicity”
I love the Jewish concept of “shalom”. The fullest sense of the word incorporates the ideas of peace, wholeness, unity, and balance. It describes both an individual and community-wide mind set that creates a sense of harmony in a world of chaos; balance amidst competing pressures; and peace while surrounded by strife. It’s common in the Jewish world to wish someone “Shalom” as a way of speaking a blessing into their life.
In his book ‘The Freedom of Simplicity” Richard Foster writes of how we can increase “Shalom” in our lives by intentionally incorporating greater simplicity into our daily routines. He’s talking about living lives that are intentionally less complicated. As a practice of our faith, Foster encourages us to develop what Bishop John Taylor once called “The Theology of Enough”. We must come to the point of deciding that we already have enough possessions, or enough advancement at work, or enough activities in our lives, or enough (fill in the blank with whatever it is that’s cluttering up your life.)
We all need more “Shalom” in our lives. We need more peace, wholeness, unity, and balance. As Solomon explained in Ecclesiastes 7:29, God made us plain and simple, we’re the ones who have greatly complicated this business of living. Someone else once observed that God made us human “beings” not human “doings”. Most of us need to slow way down and cut some things out of our lives. “Be still” the Lord said, “and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
For an expanded teaching on this subject of achieving a more balanced life of “shalom” you can go to my web site at http://www.JimMersereauBooks.com, click on the button “Free Articles” and download the articles “Room for the Singing of Angels” and “Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times”.
There is peace in simplicity.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 