In April of 2002 I was on a missionary trip in Russia. One evening at dinner I was called over to a table. A couple of my translators wanted me to come and speak with two college age guys who where curious about the Americans visiting their city. I sat down with them and began to talk with them about Jesus. They were shocked to hear a tattooed American talk about a God they could know and experience personally. They thought only priests talked about God, and He was far too complicated for them to understand. As I shared with them the scripture and my personal testimony, the walls of skepticism began to crumble. One of the young men, Dima said that what I was sharing about Jesus made him feel overwhelmed with emotions almost to the point of tears.

These two young men gave their lives to the Lord that night. It was the beauty of simplicity that brought them to their knees. As Paul said in 1 Cor. 1:23, “we preach Christ crucified”. The love of God for mankind is defined by the death of His Son for our sins on the cross. The teaching of Jesus convicts us to change. The death and resurrection of Jesus compels us to love, learn and live in Him. Why? 1 John 4:10, answers that, “In this is Love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Loving a God who loves us perfectly is not complicated, but Satan loves to make it difficult by confusing us. He tells us God doesn’t really mean what He says, he whispers in our ears “ Your not good enough for God to love, you’ve got to earn God’s respect”. Satan wants to convince us that our faith is in a distant ideology rather than a thinking, feeling personality. When we believe this lie we pile burdens on our shoulders that were never intended for us to carry. Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, understood how to fight this well when he wrote, “Simplicity blinds the Devil”. Simplifying our lives as Christians is not dumbing down our faith. It is purifying anything that is not of God in our lives. This brings Christ into everything and us into Him. Satan has no power against a man who rests in Jesus; just meditate on our Lord’s words in Matt 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all you 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.” Jesus desires relationship not religion, He wants to be known not known about.

The morning after Dima and His friend accepted the Lord I sat down and wrote The Beauty of Simplicity a proclamation of my Love for Jesus, and a perpetual reminder that I love Him only because he first loved me. The more I fall in love with Him, the more I desire to simplify and purify my life, that He might be my all in all.

Further scripture readings on simplicity and purity of heart:

Matt 5:8,

Mark 12:33

John 7:38 6:29 17:3

Acts 2:46 4:32 7:38