What I Found Out
Ecclesiastes 7
KJV
29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
In my quest to understand life, through reading, observing and experience, l realised how simple life was meant to be! Unfortunately, we have made it complex and demanding!
I came to fully understand John’s words as an attempt to trace the root causes of the challenges we face. Read it
1 John 2
KJV
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
- Lust of the eyes
- Lust of the flesh
- Pride of life
John identified the above as the sources of the problems we face in life, and they are the truth. They are a summary of all that works against us. Not openly but in subtle ways.
Observing life in general I realised that these three areas are the most tempting and challenging and if we can work on them life will be pleasant!
Again observing from a distance l learnt this, the antidote to the above “ three killer diseases ” is “ contentment “ To be satisfied with what one has unfortunately is where the real battle lies.
The desire to be, the desire or drive to conform to be seen and counted as belonging etc is what makes it difficult to be content.
For example, growing up our girls were proud of their natural hair, they plaited or fashioned it as to look so gorgeous and attractive. , not so today!
The natural is disdained for the artificial as a result women must wear “caps”, or “ hats” made of artificial hair every day! One can imagine the discomfort of having to wear such “ hats” under the scorching sun every day.
Yes, God created a simple world,
Ecclesiastes 7:29
NIV
[29] This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.”
It is these schemes that have brought us to where we are today; suffocating under insatiable desires. Oh that we return to the natural state of simplicity that was made for our good!
Like the Ecclesiastics writer, I also found these, the choice is ours to make! May these words of Paul remind each of us ;
1 Timothy 6
KJV
6+ But godliness with contentment is great gain.
My take on simplicity as a key to living a fulfilled life! Though not easy yet it is attainable!