Many people say that being a Christian is too complicated. There’s so many do’s and don’t’s. One slightly wrong move and we sin. It’s pretty hard to be holy, so why even bother.
Living a Spirit-led Christian life for almost three years, I realized that Christianity is first, not a religion at all. Second, being a Christian should be very simple.
To understand the simplicity of Christianiy, let’s give an example.
For example, you are from your house on the way to the mall. A very simple situation. You just need to go to the mall. Then let’s say you drive your own car.
Then you suddenly thought. “What if I ran out of gas? It’s gonna be a big proble,. Wait a minute, I think I’ll have to drop by the gasoline station….oh, wait! Did I bring my license? I think I should check. Hmmm, I wonder where’s the nearest gas station? Darn! If the traffic is not this heavy, I would have been there in a while ago. Oh wait, did I bring an umbrella? Oh no, I didn’t! What if it rains hard? How am I suppose to get out?”
When you reach the mall, you will look like this.
Same with Christianity. Christians grow tired because they think they need to do this and that, it is supposed to be this way, not that. This is forbidden, this is allowed. You need to read the bible every day. You need to pray so many times.
We forget the very essence of Christianity – Christ.
Who is Jesus? What did He do? What role does He play in my life?
Christianity is simply this: having a love life with Jesus Christ. As plain as A,B,C. It is all about Jesus. Straight to the point!
This simple definition encompasses:
· Knowing who He is and believing Him
· Letting Christ manage your life by trusting Him and surrendering you’re all
· Living a life dedicated to Him (doing what pleases Him and stop doing what displeases Him with the help of His own Spirit)
I like to make things complicated. It has been a hobby. (Bad hobby, btw.) Even when I am just beginning my christian life, I complicated the simple meaning of Christianity.
Of course there will be times when I will forget this fact myself. That’s why I wrote this – to remind myself in times that I feel my life with the Lord is becoming so complicated. (I’m sure there will be times like that in the future.)
If you notice, whenever we are out of focus, things get complicated. This is very evident in life. We say that life is complicated. True, if in the first place you don’t have something to focus on but yourself and what’s happening around. Those two things (yourself and your situations) are actually the ones that make things complicated.
That’s why the Lord said that without a vision, you will perish. You are going nowhere because you don’t have a stable point to look at.
Wisdom says that the shortest way from a point to another point is a straight line. The problem is, what if you do not see or your do not know the other point? Or that other point is not a real other point but a point that will lead you further to confusion.
As a Christian, that other-point, that center of focus should always be God (Stable, True, Faithful, Peace) . It is a love life that is Jesus-focused. And the good thing about is that all you need to do is to know Him, believe in Him and love Him. Our job as believers is to believe. But we will never believe or trust who we do not know and who we do not love. As simple as that!
We said a while back that he shortest way from a point to another point is a straight line. As I am writing this article, I realized thatna-realize ko na I am neither point A, point B or the straight line! It’s all God. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is responsible for bringing me back to Himself. All I need to do is believe in Him. And If I really believe in Him, I will now do what He wants me to do.
Christianity can be compared to a dude and a gal in a relationship. They spend time together to know each other. They love each other.
What does the dude or the gal need to do in order to know the other deeply. Is it like this?
It’s totally not! The guy’s nuts and an air head. As far as I know you need to talk to each other and spend precious time together. It’s that simple.
It’s like this with God. Get to know Him first because the Lord knows us very well already. It is us who should do the asking. The reason why many Christians feel tired is because they do it this way.
why not like this?
Now let’s say that you already know your partner and because you know him/her deeply, you are now in love with him/her. Wouldn’t it be just natural to do what will please him/her? Won’t you just do what makes him/her happy?
And even though you get tired doing what he/she want you to do, you won’t mind! You will endure just to make him/her happy. That’s true love!
That’s the same with the Lord. When you get to know Him deeply, you will begin to love Him. And when you begin to love Him, the things that He wants you to do, you will do without complaining. You will find yourself faithfully going to Church every Sunday. You will find yourself enjoying reading the bible. The have-to’s before became want-to’s.
When you grasp the true meaning of Christianity, you will walk in holiness without wearing out. And when we die, we will not be asked of what good we did on earth. We will be asked how close have we been with the Son of Heaven’s King. If you’re not close at all with Him, regardless of how good you were or how faithful you go to Church, you will still go to the unwanted place.
Very simple. Straight to the point. Like you, in my everyday life, I get to know the Lord so that we can get even closer. I am not pushing myself to do good works. It became automatic. How do I know the Lord? Spending time with Him. Reading His autograph book. Praying.
Trust me when I say that being a Christian is not boring. It is, in fact, crazy.
Pray this with me:
Father God,
I’ll go straight to the point. I want to build a relationship with you. I never thought that being a Christian is simply having a love life with you that is totally focused on you, Lord Jesus. Before, I thought I need to do so many things in order to get right with you, to the point of feeling so strangled. I want to begin something with you again. Lord God, I want to know you more through your Word. I want this intimate relationship with you, Lord. Help me on this.
This I pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen
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