DEUTERONOMY 10:12-13 – “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?
THEME OF THE DAY: LET’S KEEP IT AS SIMPLE AS GOD INTENDS. In asking the question, “Is life difficult and complex”, I am confident each of us would quickly respond, “Absolutely and not only by what I see in the world, but in my own life.” Then, I would ask, “Why is this so?” Here we might part ways in answering. Perhaps responses like, “Life is hard and difficult because of distractions.” I agree but that is a symptom, not a cause. Maybe an answer would be, “Life is hard and difficult because we are too busy and become exhausted.” No doubt about that, but again, not the cause and those complexities are self-imposed. The real answer as to why life is so difficult, and complex is because of sin. We have this clearly implied when God gave the curse to Adam after sin was committed. He first cursed Eve, and all women to follow, then Adam, and all men to follow . . .
To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:16-19).
Yet God didn’t leave us to the chaos, confusion, complexity, and difficulty that sin brought upon us. He gave us the Gospel of His Son, the Lord Jesus, to enable us to live the simple life as He intends for His children. Now don’t misunderstand me. There is nothing easy about the Christian life, but it is not complex. Life outside of Christ is complex and difficult. Jesus, Himself, promises the “simple life of rest in Him”, not ease, but rest or simplicity – Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). Our Lord said nothing about following Him would be easy, but He did say His yoke is, and His yoke is His will.
It is living life daily, moment-by-moment, without compromise, to the will of God that keeps life simple as God intends. This simplicity is in today’s scripture. We were created for, then re-created in Christ for five simple things – fearing God, conducting our lives according to His ways, loving Him, serving Him, and obeying His commands. That sounds difficult, doesn’t it? It is, but not complex, and here is the encouraging truth with these simple directions for life – God never gives commands without giving the grace to obey them. Does He want us to live a simple life, contrary to the world’s complexity? Absolutely for in doing so, we show the reality of the Lord Jesus and the power of the Gospel to defeat what makes life hard, difficult and complex, sin.
However, there is a catch or requirement if we are to live this simple life God intends. Notice what Jesus says, “His yoke (or will) is easy.” A yoke was harnessed to an ox or cow as the means for the farmer to guide the animal and accomplish the farmer’s will. The animal could only wear one yoke. And it is the same for us. We cannot wear the yoke of our will and Christ’s. To do so, leads to complexity and difficulties in life. No, only one will lead to simplicity and it isn’t ours! May God help us toward the simple life as He intends.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to simplify all I do in life to one thing – doing everything with an eye towards pleasing You.”
QUOTE: “Life is complex because of sin. The Christian life gets complex by trying to do our will with God’s.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,