The other day I was briefly watching an appeals court proceeding that made me very happy that I am not a lawyer. The questions the judges were asking seemed very complex and when they used hypothetical situations it really got complicated. In the Old Testament the law was very detailed and covered many areas of life, both physically as well as spiritually. What amazes me is how Jesus handled a question in which he was asked what the greatest commandment in the law was. His answer was profound and tells me a lot about the simplicity of the Kingdom of Light. He said, “Love God with all your heart, mind and soul and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.” Then he said, “On these two commands hang all of the law and the prophets.” Jesus summed up the whole law with two commands, both of which had to do with love. Several years ago, the Lord prompted me to simplify my life. I have been progressively doing that ever since and I have it now about as simple as I can get it, although I am sure there is still room for improvement. I am seeing everything now through the kingdoms of darkness and light. Everything I am reading in Scripture is filtered through them and the contrasts are insightful. Life and death, peace and drama, love and hate, forgiveness and bitterness and the list goes on. Seeing everything in opposite meanings helps me to clearly see the striking difference between the two. I thank the Lord for revealing the simplicity of life in His Kingdom and guiding me to be more straightforward and basic in all I do.
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
Acts 4:13
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
Philippians 2:3-4