2 CORINTHIANS 11:3 – But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
THEME OF THE DAY. KEEP IT SIMPLE. I often wonder if I make the Christian life more complex than God intended. I didn’t say “I often wonder if I make the Christian life harder than God intended.” We cannot think for a second that living for Jesus Christ in a godless world is going to be easy. It won’t be. Yes, Christ’s yoke is easy, but walking in obedience to Him while wearing His yoke will not be (Matthew 11:28-30). In God’s wisdom and ways, He ordained the Christian life to be a tough fight, difficult course, and challenging race. Though our spiritual walk is hard, it is not complex. Complexity is not from God. It comes from two sources; the devil and ourselves.
In today’s scripture, the Apostle Paul acknowledges the devil is behind the work of making our walk with Christ complex and not simple. And notice where the devil levels his attack; in our minds. If he can tempt us, like Eve, to drift away from simple childlikeness in our walk with the Lord, welcome spiritual complexity and confusion. But the devil is not the only source pulling us away from the simple Christian life. We do so ourselves. Allow me to provide two things proving this point.
First, we make the Christian life complex when we equate spirituality to what we do or don’t do. It gets really confusing when we define holiness and walking with the Lord exclusively by our actions. For sure, Biblical obedience always includes actions, but we are not walking with the Lord by a mental checklist of morality. Our walk is one of love; holy love for the Lord Jesus. Don’t make this complex. Keep it simple. Delight in the Lord and obey His Word out of privilege, not dull duty. Let love be our motivator and energizer in living out the Christian life. There will be wonderful freedom and simplicity if we learn to live under the control of Christ’s love, not our rules and expectations (2 Corinthians 5:14). And always remember, Biblical spirituality is not measured by what we do or don’t do, but by our conformity to the image of Christ. Hard? Yes. Complex? No.
Next, we make the Christian life complex when we lose sight of why we have the Bible. We don’t read our Bibles to learn doctrine, though we do. We don’t read our Bibles to find comfort, though we do. We don’t read our Bibles to gain knowledge to defend the faith, though we do. Foremost, God gave us His Word for two reasons. First, to find our Savior Jesus Christ and His salvation. Then, to grow in our Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation. Keep the main simple purpose of the Bible in our thinking. We have been given a love letter from God to bring us face-to-face with His Son the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:6). This will not only keep our walk with the Lord simple, but it will fuel a deeper desire and commitment to the Word because we see the love of the Triune God all over it and in it.
The world we live in is complex and confusing, but the Christian living in such a world is to do so with simplicity; a simplicity of relying on God for who He is, manifesting the simple, but profound truth, “That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
PRAYER: “Father, help me to keep my walk with You child-like.”
QUOTE: “The Christian life may be difficult, but it is not complex.”
In the Affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim