Within the past year, a great change has taken place in my personal life and in my walk with Jesus Christ. It has come with a price, but having counted the cost, it was well worth any perceived loss to truly know Christ. During that time, I grew restless in the realization that I had been spiritually starving. The hype and the sensationalism were tiresome. Hype sells but it doesn’t save. Oh, I longed for the Word of God to be taught in order to gain proper understanding and the actual gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached in the church. I still long for that. Sound biblical teaching seems to be a spiritual delicacy in some churches. I am convinced that many in the church have not heard the gospel in proper context and have been lulled to sleep by self serving messages with armor bearers taking up the man or woman of God’s cross so that the “anointed ones” can maintain an elevated status and keep from getting splinters or calluses in their hands. Forget dying to self. We need fresh manna, right? We need a fresh word because the infallible Word has grown stale according to man’s standards. We have forsaken the simplicity of Christianity in search of the next big thing. How presumptuous to believe that we can surpass the magnitude of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

We live in a world with sensory overload and where distractions abound. We are always busy and in need of more time in the day. As a born again believer and disciple of Jesus Christ, I find that none of us are immune to distractions nor excuses as to why we cannot or will not pray, share the gospel of Jesus Christ or read the Bible. Many are looking for the next sensation and the next goosebumps while essentially overlooking these vital aspects of the Christian walk. Where is the call back to simplicity of preaching the Word and praying without ceasing? Why are we avoiding the difficult passages of Scripture about sin and repentance? Why are we blaming the devil for everything when the Bible explicitly describes works of the flesh posing a problem for spiritual inheritance (Galatians 5:19-21) and that the flesh is hostile to God (Romans 8:7)? Part of the simplicity of Christianity is accountability and repentance to God as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. His grace and mercy are a beautiful part of redemption. May we not take it for granted or think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

Many want a platform rather than a cross to bear. Many want their way instead of God’s way. Many want to command instead of cry for mercy and to really understand fervent prayer. For example, I am reminded of how Daniel prayed to God regarding his understanding of the desolation of Jerusalem in Daniel 9. His prayer was broken and full of humility, repentance and cries for mercy. There are many examples in the Bible when we take the time to read it and understand the context and the example being set before us. Maybe we need reminding of who God is as the Creator and who we are as the created being so that we can be brought down a few notches, as in to our knees. Maybe we need more humility and less arrogance and pride. Maybe we need a wake up call and to remember Who saved us and from Whose wrath we have been spared.

There is much right now to capture our attention and our emotion. There is much to distract us. There are conflicting words, conspiracy theories, erroneous prophecies, which we seem more quickly to defend without testing and to know by heart than the Word of God, and a host of other things that will ignite a myriad of responses. We have no excuses left right now for not getting back to the simplicity of the Christian life.

Here is a wild thought and a charge to those who have had no time to read the Bible or to pray. Now more than ever, we need to know what His Word says and to understand it properly. We are charged to preach the gospel. We are instructed in how to pray. In the midst of crisis, we have been given what we complain that we do not have while taking abundance for granted. Here is our opportunity. You want a word from God? I have one for you and for me. Open the Bible and read it so that you understand how to conduct yourself as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Return to simplicity found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” His gospel is the power of God, and His gospel saves. Praise God that He calls us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Do not squander an opportunity to return to the underrated simplicity of the Christian life. There is still time.

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