Caring For My Soul

A new year always spurs people on to make resolutions. I haven't made a new year's resolution in a couple of years because they never last the whole year. And besides, if I feel like if I need to make a change - why wait until a new year - why not just change now?

Jake and I are going to read the Bible in chronological order this year. My Dad did this last year and passed on the reading guide to us. If you are interested in it, click here. I think it will be neat to read the events of the Bible as they occurred chronologically. So far, it's January 4th and we haven't missed a day! haha! Let's keep it up...

Last year in Omaha around New Years I heard a lot of people choosing a word and that was the word that they would live by for the year. I think this is a neat idea because you can focus on one area of your life and be intentional. In fact, "intentional" would probably be a great word to live by for a year! If I had to pick a word for this year, I think I would pick simplicity. When we hear this word, we mostly think of living with less material stuff. That is true, but I have a broader meaning of the word referring to a life that is free of clutter and focused on the Lord because if you want to care for your soul, you need to simplify your life.

Luke 8 - The Parable of the Sower - is a great scriptural reference for this...starting at verse 4:

⁴ While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: ⁵ “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
 .....
¹¹ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. ¹² Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. ¹⁴ The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. ¹⁵ But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

[The seed is the Word of God

The soil is the human heart]

Here is my personal explanation in table format because I absolutely love excel...

It's so easy for me to clutter my life and I don't even realize I'm doing it until my relationship with the Lord is suffocating. Things that I am going to focus on this year through simplicity: Having an eternal perspective, being a prayerful person, stewardship, generosity, self control, and finding pleasure in things God desires.

And a great verse to remember this year:

But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Mark 4:19