Virtue in Simplicity

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 18:3 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit impressed upon me that those words are more than just about having child-like faith. Jesus is really drawing us away from the complications of the human mind and into a simple lifestyle that is full and satisfying.

When I was young, I had very little wants. Like many of you, I got what I needed as a young lad. Life was simple and yet satisfactory. Do you remember?

As I grew up, willingly or not, I was molded by the ways of the world. Ambition, desire for the "finer" things, wanting to be recognized, to have power and laudable achievements and to be in trend with the contemporary culture are but some of the things that drove my life.

Richard Foster,a noted Christian theologian and author of Freedom of simplicity, said, "We crave things we neither need nor enjoy ... we buy things we do not want (so as) to impress people we do not like" sums up his point of our "insane attachment to things."

And yet what God wants, and for which Paul so passionately urged us, is that we do not conform to the world but to allow the Holy Spirit to renew our mind and be transformed according to His will (Romans 12:2).

Sewlyn Hughes remarked that "One great difference between the Christian faith and every other religion is its simplicity. To find God, you have to move away from all that is complicated to what is simple. And what can be more simple that a child opening his or her hand to receive a gift?"

The world will continue to say that our belief is too simple. It must not matter to us what they say. Let us simply believe. Simply believe that He will provide for all our needs, He is the our banner and protector, He is our Abba Father who choose to love us. Hallelujah!

There is great virtue in simplicity.

God bless.

Steven