Easy versus Simple
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:3
While they are often confused, simple and easy do not mean the same thing.
Think of the Ten Commandments. They are simple. They are a list of ten things we should and shouldn’t do. Yet, if they were so easy, we wouldn’t be living in a world with murder, theft, adultery, or conflict.
Certain acts are easy and simple, while some are easy but not always simple.
Habits often fall into this category. Take driving, for example, while it is easy for many, yet anyone who has sat with a new ‘learner’ driver in a car knows that it is not so simple! It only becomes easy over time.
Following a diet is an example of simple but not easy. We generally know which foods are healthy and which are not. But we do not have an easy time sticking to them.
A life of faith in God is simple but not easy:
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:9-10.
Today, we are often tempted by easy spirituality. Just do A, B, and C, and you’ll feel closer to God. But authentic faith is not easy. It is simple.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and the broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14
How do we make it easier? The only way is by developing consistency and wisdom through the strength and grace that the Holy Spirit gives.
Isaiah 33: 6 says that wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times…
Over time, we begin to see the benefits and the truth of our actions. Then deviating from them becomes uncomfortable, even unthinkable.
Lean into the Holy Spirit, and the word of faith every day and not just out of mere routine but from a heart that seeks to please the Father. Sing, praise, dance, and rejoice in the Lord, not minding how you feel, don’t take the easy route!