keep it simple

“All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No;’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -the words of Jesus


Believe it or not, I used to be a sales person. I’ve sold courier services blue jeans, insurance, musical instruments, etc. From all of the various training involved with educating myself to be a good sales person, I remember the old acrostic K.I.S.S. No, not the rock band, but the adage “keep it simple stupid”.

Humans, I believe, have a real problem with keeping things simple. We just seem to love a little bit of drama in our lives. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because it gives us something to talk about with others in the break room at work or maybe it’s because we know deep within us that we have nothing else really going on in our lives. Either way, it’s sort of sad. Isn’t it?

Jesus, I believe, knew this about us - the fact that we humans have a real problem with keeping things simple. So, not only did he personify ‘simple’ with His entire life, He also brought it to our attention when he interacted with the people and spoke with them.

“…simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No;’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” In other translations it says that is comes ‘from evil’ rather than ‘the evil one’. When translated from the Greek, that word ‘evil’ means: full of labors, annoyances and hardship. Bottom line, you (and I) complicate our lives when we are wishy-washy. For whatever reason, we make our lives NOT easy and NOT simple.

Because we naturally tend to complicate our lives, this makes it difficult for you and I to truly understand why Jesus says “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We’re so wrapped up in the managing the drama of our lives (which has accumulated over time from the many wishy-washy responses we have made) that we are far removed from the mindset we really need to comprehend what Jesus said and IS saying. Let me paraphrase the words of Jesus: my way of living Life (the kingdom of heaven here on earth) is easy, natural and the way God originally intended it (the way of the Kingdom).

We are only human and fortunately Jesus knew that then and He definitely knows it now. The fact that we like to complicate our lives rather than live them simple is more a product of our humanity (our human condition) than any else. If we call ourselves followers of Jesus, then being aware of our tendency to complicate our lives should be a source of freedom not of guilt or shame (better to know than not to know). The more we learn and are aware of who we truly are, the better followers we become. And through that following, we become more like the One that we follow.