If the LORD is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Numbers 14:8
“Asceticism and simplicity are mutually incompatible. Occasional superficial similarities in practice must never obscure the radical difference between the two. Asceticism renounces possessions. Simplicity sets possessions in proper perspective. Asceticism finds no place for a “land flowing with milk and honey.” Simplicity rejoices in this gracious provision from the hand of God. Asceticism find contentment only when it is abased. Simplicity knows contentment in both abasement and abounding.
Simplicity is the only thing that sufficiently reorients our lives so that possessions can be genuinely enjoyed without destroying us… Simplicity sets us free to receive the provision of God as a gift that is not ours to keep and can be freely shared with others. Once we recognize that the Bible denounces the materialist and the ascetic with equal vigor, we are prepared to turn our attention to the framing of a Christian understanding of simplicity.”
Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 85.
Last night I returned home from Memphis and today I turn around and fly to Hartford via Chicago. It’s one of those weeks. I have the privilege of seeing dear friends on Friday, teaching Saturday up in New Hampshire, and preaching on Sunday back down in Colchester, Connecticut.
On each of these days I will enjoy sweet fellowship and delicious food with fellow believers. It’s a picture of generosity. Neither the materialist nor the ascetic relates rightly with milk and honey. Avoidance and indulgence don’t follow God’s pattern of enjoyment and sharing.
Pray for me, for stamina and strength to feed spiritual food to those I will serve, and to share love and shower encouragement richly. And for everyone reading this, I pray that whatever work God has you doing, speaking or serving, that you do it generously with the strength God supplies (cf. 1 Peter 4:10-11).