As I was scrolling through social media, the algorithms actually got something right on my feed. It was a single guy who had lived out of a backpack for multiple years, and he seemed so free. Not because he didn’t have a job, because he did. He wasn’t homeless. He had a warm place to live; but the amount of time available was what felt so freeing.
The time to choose how to live and what to do.
Time was his asset.
He showed he had one coat, one backpack, a laptop, his phone, six outfits—and a single pair of shoes. He was able to have all the necessities of life to then be able to be fully present for all the extras it offered. How freeing to know you didn’t have to decide what to wear. If you wanted to try something new to eat, you could because you didn’t have the obligation to eat the overbought pantry at home.
If you wanted to try something new to wear, you could; but felt no obligation to purchase, unless you absolutely loved it. You had a boundary of a backpack. If you loved it, it had to fit within the guidelines of this free lifestyle created. It also didn’t mean there couldn’t be change.
With time as an asset, you are able to literally change so many things.
Change was also easier to attain, because it wasn’t rooted in all these choices that had to be made. It didn’t have a long line of dominoes behind it that affected one choice after another after another.
Positive change was easy to come by for him, without all the friction of the unnecessary that had been sold to society as a whole as needed. There was a line between what was actually convenient and what was sold to be convenient but actually a trap.
Not everything that is presented as easy in our life is actually helpful or beneficial.
It made me think about Joshua Fields Millburn. He was a writer and fellow minimalist like me, but he had cracked the code on the things people really craved in life weren’t things at all.
You couldn’t buy love, but you could purchase affection.
You couldn’t buy grace or mercy, but you could manipulate the system.
You couldn’t buy happiness, but you could buy convenience which oddly sometimes could feel like the fake version…but quickly faded and never transformed into long-term, indefinite joy.
You could buy supper, but never an honest friend.
You could buy a vacation, but if you didn’t have family to enjoy it with, what was the point?
The things we want to fill us aren’t actually things at all…and when we realize what we are trying to fill it with such as power, money, fickle feelings…we realize spending money won’t get us there.
We want to be loved.
We want to be needed.
We want to be seen and valued.
We can throw money at it and away and away. But the heart will never be satisfied with temporary items or dreams.
Once we fill the heart with what it actually needs, Jesus…then we have removed the power of purchases to fill us.
I found a few verses in Scripture that talked about contentment.
1 Timothy 6:6-11 (New International Version)
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
What if that verse that contentment is great gain isn’t just about being thankful for what we have?
What if it’s just simply realizing that what we need, what we crave, what really matters can’t be bought at all?
This is where the Bible turns so practical.
You can have the right last name.
You can have the biggest bank account,
You can have the most respect or the largest applause.
You can have the fancy bag, the biggest voice, even the nicest car. You can live an honorable life— but if your heart is empty— nothing except one thing will fill it.
And once it’s filled…
Then we’d have leftover financial resources.
We wouldn’t be throwing them at things listed above, we’d be able to save. We wouldn’t feel this desire to fill ourselves in these ways anymore. It’s not that we wouldn’t buy things at all, it’s just everything would be bought with intention.
We’d also be outrageously generous. When your heart is full, so is your giving.
Did you ever think about how many things we buy and bring into our lives because of emotions?
We want to feel safe.
We want to feel special.
We want to feel accomplished.
We want to feel elite.
Our ability to be manipulated by our emotions would be minimal; because we’d not only be healthy mentally but also spiritually and emotionally well regulated.
What if our insecurity and inferiority complexes of the fallen world are finding the pockets of malicious companies?
Not all companies…but the ones preying on those with broken hearts to make a buck.
What if maybe we don’t live out of a backpack like that guy I saw on social media…but what if we start setting ourselves free from the expectations that marketing keeps trying to sell us?
What if what we’ve been doing this whole time has been distorted and distracting into something that wasted the one asset we could never replace? Time.
Enjoy the time you have today.
Let’s keep learning how to steward it well for tomorrow…and I’ll just take that one backpack living style, please.
Rachel Redlin is a columnist, author, journalist, and award-winning radio host. She lives in Northwest Kansas with her husband and five children, where she writes about faith, food, and the simple everyday life. Want to read more or contact us? You can subscribe to the FREE newsletter at www.simplybloominggrace.com
Want some help with where to start? We’ve chosen a few items to encourage and equip you with your own backpack and free time…and one of our favorite devotionals to go with it! Click the links below to find out more!
Have you read our latest book release? Check out and read The Well today!
Note: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases—at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Simply Blooming Grace. You can read our privacy and security policy HERE.
Simply Blooming Grace 