Simple--but not easy

In last Sunday's sermon the statement was made that, "The Christian life is simple but not easy." This is very true. The Christian life is really simple. Even children know when they have done something wrong, that they have sinned. They can understand that Jesus wants to come into the heart of every person and will enter a person's life and forgive his sins whenever that person invites Him in. Multitudes of people have become Christians before they were ten years old.

Living the Christian life is simple. The title of one of our hymns tells us just how to do that. We are to "Trust and Obey." The first line of the song says, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."

We need not only to believe in Jesus but to believe what He has told us in Scripture. If we are to trust and obey, we must first know what He has said and then do it. Simple--but not easy.

Since it's so simple, why is it so hard to live the Christian life? We have opposition, enemies, who make obedience difficult. Who are these enemies? There are three--the world, the flesh, and the devil and his demons.

The world would lure us away from godly lives into pursuits which gratify our fleshly desires. James 4:4b, "Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."

Our human nature has many desires that clamor to be satisfied. James 1:13-14, "When tempted, no one should say God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed."

We have supernatural enemies. Ephesians 6:12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

The Christian life is not complicated. It is simple. Trust and obey. But it's hard, because we have enemies. Victory comes when we steadfastly keep our eyes on Jesus and trust Him and obey Him.

Father, I thank You that entering the Christian life is so simple that little children can understand how to do it. I thank You, too, that living the Christian life is not complicated, but it can be very hard at times. Help us each one to keep our eyes on Jesus and trust Him and obey all that He has instructed us to do. Amen.