Why Is Life So Complicated?

So much noise. So many voices. So many distractions. It's a wonder we can hear God's voice at all as we overcrowd our life and complicate it beyond anything reasonable. It would be interesting to make a list of all the essential things and activities in our day and then make a list of all the non-essential. I wonder which would be the longer list? I wonder if we would be able to tell the difference between the two? No wonder we are getting the philosophies and ideas of the world so mixed up with God's Word.

Every day I am hearing or reading things from Christians that come directly from the current thinking in the world system. "Believe in yourself." "You can do anything you put your mind to." "If you think you can, you will." Yet, until we realize our total fallen state and that we have nothing of any worth to offer Jesus, we will not be able to fully accept his grace, mercy and compassion. As long as we believe that there is some good in us God can do nothing for us. We have to realize that Jesus must and has done it all for us, that there is nothing we can do for ourselves, before we will begin to understand the extent of his love for us and everyone else.

Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth:

Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:34)

There are two parts to this. First of all we need to come back to our senses and stop sinning. The problem with the Corinthians is that they had started twisting the gospel Paul had brought to them. They started rejecting the fact of the resurrection. They were philosophers and they loved talking about new ideas and new religions which they would then take on or reject. Somehow they were allowing the philosophies to dilute the truth of the gospel. Not unlike today as we pick and choose from a whole grocery store of thoughts, ideas, and life philosophies. Instead of sticking to the clear Word of God we are creating our own beliefs from bits and pieces of everything that tickles our ears.

Second, these people were distracted from their purpose. Instead of doing what God has called us all to do they were distracted by their great debates and discussions. They preferred to sit around and talk about the gospel instead of actually doing the gospel. Paul said it was to their shame that some people were still ignorant of God. Isn't that crazy? It's like working at a grocery store and spending all day discussing the best way of stocking the shelves without actually stocking the shelves. It is great that we have opportunities to study the Bible but the Bible is more than a piece of literature to be discussed and studied; it is an instruction manual that tells us what we are suppose to be doing. The most important thing for us to be doing is getting out of our churches and into life so we can share the good news of Jesus Christ.

We are complicating our lives whereas God has made it simple for us. You have not been saved for your own pleasure but so that you could be used as an instrument in someone else's salvation. We have not been left in this place to chase after the things of the pagans, to pursue our own entertainment and pleasures but instead to live for Jesus by serving other people. It's all about getting your head screwed on right, coming back to your senses, to stop sinning, to stop making life about you and instead making life about Jesus and others. Examine your day, cut out the non-essentials and see what you are left with. Then start filling your day with the purpose of your life. Remember, you died to yourself and now you live in Jesus. Without him you have no life. As Paul stated, Jesus is our life and we live for his purpose, not our own.