Living Without

My husband and I were in Colorado for the last three weeks for a family reunion. In the process of “packing lightly,” we lived without things that are part of our daily routine. It’s amazing what we can get along without.

We lost track of our power cord for our laptop, so we were without our computer. No email. No blogs written. No facebook (which doesn’t bother me). It’s been inconvenient, but kind of a nice break from technology. I know you’re supposed to be able to use a cell phone for all of that, but we’re not good at those things.

Our grandson drove our car to Florida so that we could fly. But in order to have minimal luggage to take on the plane, we sent most of our stuff on ahead with him. For a week I lived without my facial soap, my shampoo, my magnifying mirror, much of my make-up and hair stuff. Oh well, my family is very forgiving about how I look. But it was inconvenient to be without a car for a week. Then when we left Colorado to fly to Florida, we forgot our phone. So we lived without that for a week.

All of this has made me wonder how much we can live without. Missionaries who live in the jungle learn to adjust, but most of us in the land of plenty have a few things to learn about such a limited lifestyle. We know that we can learn to live without everything except food and water, but we have plenty of that, so it’s not a major concern.

What do people do without Jesus, though? Isn’t He the most necessary component of our lives? He reminded His disciples (and us) that “without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). It reminds me of a song my husband and I used to sing. “Without Him I could do nothing. Without Him I’d surely fail. Without Him I would be drifting like a ship without a sail” (Mylon LeFevre).

Just as we need physical food for sustenance, the Word of God is our spiritual sustenance. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 when He said to the devil: “Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” And Job said long ago: “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).

So what is necessary for you? What can you live without? And what can’t you live without?