Simplicity

Ecclesiastes 7:9

This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.

Has the discord between the two superstars of Christmas ever struck you? Santa, whose image dominates shopping centres and adverts telling us that the way to show love is to spend more. And then there is Jesus, born in a stable with no image, popularity, success or status at all and yet, the Bible tells us, he is God’s perfect demonstration of his extravagant love for us. 

When I turn from the lights, gifts and merriment of the holiday season, to absorb again the profound simplicity of the Christmas story, a stark contrast is revealed: while complexity and distraction breed bondage and fear, the simplicity of the gospel frees us for joy and contentment, no matter our circumstance.

The theologian, Kierkegaard, puts it like this, 'Purity of heart is to will one thing.'  He suggests simplicity is much better understood as unity. Unity of desire, unity of focus, unity of mind and heart and soul. A kind of unity which is threatened by the competing attachments that swell around us at Christmas.

So, this year, let’s pursue a simplicity that puts God and his kingdom first. Let's ask for purity of heart, received as a gift, unforced and unstriven for. Then we will discover a joyful unconcern for the distractions of the world and instead trust in the promise that God is guiding us towards a land flowing in milk and honey. 

Prayer — Today, let's echo the prayer in Psalm 51:10 

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”