Put on Simplicity – Body and Soul Healthy Lifestyle

2Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Simplicity, in my experience, is usually found in Single Servings – One at a time.

There is a very profound ongoing growth principle in the Bible. It is the Put On – Put off principle.

To put off complicated put on simplicity

To put off overscheduled, put on a single focus – one at a time

To put off indecisiveness, put on a single decision

• First single serving – Breakfast

Breaking the Fast has long been described as the most important meal of the day. Yet I often skip it as I have so many plans to accomplish

Relating that to my spiritual life, the first thing I need to do daily is to fuel the spirit with healthy life-giving fuel.

Start with 7 minutes (1 min for thankfulness (I look at yesterday) – 2 min to read a verse or three – 1 min to write down any directive to do, not do, start or stop – 1 min to pray for someone else this makes you think of and 1 minute to pray for yourself, 1 min. to write out last thing first (if nothing else gets done today – what was one most important thing you to accomplish), and close with 1 min. to praise God for what He is going to do today

• Lunch!

Mid-day refueling is something I also often skip – too busy with the day’s plans, too involved with others plans for us, or too tired already from trying to complete an impossible list for the day. Too busy to nourish, or snacking on quick unhealthy and often unsatisfying tidbits.

Hydrate body and spirit – Take 1 minutes to drink water, 1 minute to stretch, 1 minute to review a scripture verse and 1 minute to remind self that because I am in Christ, wherever I go and whatever I do, I am bringing Christ into the situation.

• Dinner (or Supper whatever you prefer to call it) This is –or should be – a time to relax, unwind, review the day or plan the next, as well as to have the lightest meal of the day (largest meal at lunch gives the body more time to digest and process it). But of course, if I’ve skimped through the earlier parts of the day, the body now wants to consume anything in sight, and if I’ve not stopped to pause at all, I’m so tired – or wired – I’m not likely to be productive physically or spiritually.

Rather than vegetate on the sofa, overeating by the television, too tired and then to full to get up, I need to plan my next day’s ‘bites’ so I can enjoy a peaceful evening time.

Make a menu of all three meals, preparing what I can in case I have to run out and do errands, I can grab a healthy choice in my Bento and fuel while on the go. Similarly, write out my memory verse in large print on a card I can pocket and glance at throughout the day.

I don’t foresee my life slowing to a lounge-by-the-pool pace anytime soon, if ever.

Can you relate?

Simplified living is about more than doing less.

It’s being who God called us to be, with a wholehearted, single-minded focus.

It’s walking away from innumerable lesser opportunities in favor of the few to which we’ve been called and for which we’ve been created.

It’s living life in Single Servings.

Are you dishing up at least three times a day? Keep it simple, body and soul.