Do more and more with less and less—and do it faster and faster. This is the oft-heard management strategy in our profusely overloaded age. But what would Jesus think? Can you imagine Him flying past the blind beggar, sweat dripping off his brow, yelling at his lagging disciples because they were twenty minutes late for the Jericho prayer breakfast? How would He respond if cell phones went off within the assembled crowds at the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus had little tolerance for clutter or complexity. Simply put, He would not be distracted from His mission.

Jesus loved people and He loved truth. There was an unyielding simplicity about His approach, yet the result was freeing rather than onerous. His simplicity was all about focus. "One thing is needful . . ." are the words we remember. Jesus practiced disciplines like solitude, prayer, and Sabbath because He sought the things above rather than the unfocused distractions of the world He came to save. And even though He was disciplined and focused, He was winsome to those with spiritual need. He served. He healed. He taught. He showed compassion. People saw, and responded to His simple message.

"Every age has its own characteristics," wrote pastor and author A. W. Tozer. "Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us." Against this problem, Simplify Your Spiritual Life confronts the clutter, complexities, and distractions of our age and brings us back to the simplicity of the kingdom of God. Don Whitney first bulldozes the often jumbled landscape of our spiritual condition and then presents Jesus before us front and center.

This book is not about an unsustainable perfection or an oppressive legalism but instead about the kind of simple devotion that sets us free. It is about the practical day-to-day of the Christian devotional walk, lived in such a way that intimacy with Christ can shine through. It is a much welcomed book about intentional living and the rediscovery of disciplines that have skipped generations but now are dusted off and brought back into the light for such a muddled time as this.

Richard A. Swenson, MD
Author of Margin and The Overload Syndrome