11. One of the misunderstandings and interpretations we can make about Christian simplicity, is the “freedom” from our physical and spiritual responsibilities. In some ways, it is more easy to have such a misunderstanding in physical responsibilities. Sloth and laziness, can easily be mistaken and unintentionally covered with honest intentions and thoughts of trusting in God and fully surrendering to Him. Take this for example,
For the past month, I was living my life in the path of a mistaken foundation, that for me to live in Christian simplicity and ignoring independence and pride, I should not care about my health or how strong I was because I was ultimately trusting in God to provide for my needs. It was not until recently, that God's grace and revelation showed me that I was not ignoring “independence and pride”, but rather my responsibilities. As much as we are called and commanded to surrender to God and ultimately, He has created us in His image and commanded us to seek His Holy Spirit. Let us not misunderstand another concept. God has not called us to a state of independence. If that were so, it would be our own death sentence since “in Him we move and live, and have our being.” And yet, the commission that God gave to Adam, is a generational vision and command that we are to obey and pass down. God called us to be “fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” and rule (as stewards) over all creation. Man's heavenly commission is as heavily packed and “thickly branched”, as the Ten Commandments. Being healthy and strong, is one of the built-in responsibilities God has given us. When we are not fulfilling our physical responsibilities, we are not trusting in God but instead, are treading the path to the sluggard's house, with Sloth and Laziness as our guide. We are not to treat ourselves as babies who need to be served (a.k.a spoon-fed) and God as our babysitter, when we have capabilities that the Creator gave to us. Now, in the biblical sense, Christ has called us to have a child-like spirit, in that, we deny ourselves, surrender and humble ourselves, and acknowledge before the presence of God (when we pray) that we are utterly helpless to make change in our lives and that He is the Head and Controller of our lives, and to lead us wherever He purposes us to be; this is submitting to His Will and predestined Plan.
Be careful. When we fulfill our physical responsibilities, it is not to be to our own glory; for we have no glory in of ourselves. We are to do it to God's glory, and a big part of that, is doing so in humility and humbleness; submission to God's majesty. When we exercise our physical strength, we should reject and despise all thoughts of pride and self-glory. When we eat healthy, we should reject and despise all thoughts of pride and self-glory, next time we see a fat person walking past us. The spirit we must eternally have, is God's Spirit. Humbleness and humility is a big essence of that. The thought we must have, when in these situations, is to keep in mind that God holds and controls our lives. He can take away our blessings and the grace He has bestowed, from us in a flash. He can, the next day, make us fat or skinny, malnourished, and hammered with aches and sickness. The thought that we must have, next to that, is to thank God for His unrelenting and merciful grace, that He has chosen to lead and guide us in the right way and not leave us in ignorance. He has blessed us by providing us strength and revealing more ways to be healthy and better suited for His Kingdom. When we thank and praise Him for His blessings, it is so easy to have pride and self-glory, once more, creep in; if we are not watching and guarding our thoughts. We can exalt ourselves, amazingly enough as it is, when thanking God for His blessings. Such thoughts as, “Thank you God that you have chosen me to be strong and better mobile for Your Kingdom and not like such fat people as I have known before.” This is where Christian simplicity can come in. In conscientious and honest humility before the presence of God, thank Him and praise Him for His blessings and primarily for His grace, that He chooses to bless us in the way that we are; and does not forsake us but instead, stays with us in every step of the way.
So the whole of this thought, is that when living in Christian simplicity; we are not excused from our physical or spiritual duties. When fulfilling our physical and spiritual responsibilities, we must keep in remembrance to give thanks and praise for God's blessings and grace; and in all of this to reject and despise all thoughts of pride and self-glory from our lives and instead, strive to live in all conscience and action, humbleness and humility before the presence of God; who ultimately and always at all times, gets the glory, in everything. This is Christian simplicity.
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