By Angie Benjamin

"But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your mind may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ" 2 Cor. 11:3

In this verse, Paul warns people not to let their minds to be corrupted from  "wholehearted and sincere devotion to Christ", or as the King James Version says the "simplicity that is in Christ".

Have you heard the phrase "less is more", well, it is so true when it comes to our lives and our Christianity.

Living in Africa has taught me the beauty of simplicity in many aspects. 

It has changed my perspective regarding materialism or consumerism.

I've had the blessing to visit rural areas, villages, to visit friends or family members.

I've been to places where a family of 4 or more people share one room or two at max....no living room, no kitchen (or kitchen can be a mud hut with thatched roof outside the main room, where they cook with fire). 

These people have the very "basics"...or most of the time they cannot even afford them. They don't spend time thinking about brands of clothes, the latest gadget or cellphone, decorative items for their house, etc. They just want to do one thing:  Survive... get through that day... One day at a time...and when the goal has been achieved, they're happy. Content. They're happy that that particular day they had a meal, that that day they survived the heat or the cold.

And despite their situation the joy that they reflect on their faces, the hope their eyes reflect...and those smiles...I've never seen such wide, beautiful and sincere smiles in my life.

And they can give! oh they do!! out of their scarcity, they give what they have. One day, a family, a single mom and her two teenage children, invited me and my family for a meal with them... they killed one of the two chickens they had and cooked it for us...they wanted to give me the other alive chicken for me to have. That act of kindness and selflessness taught me a lesson I'll cherish for the rest of my life. As I once read, "people who have the least give me most, because they know what it is to have nothing"

I want that joy, I want that contentment. I want to enjoy the simplicity of life. Simplicity can be so liberating... the same applies for our walk with Christ.

 It is okay to have a plan for our lives and everyday activities but we must be open to follow God's plan if  He has any other direction in which He wants us to go. We often block God's plan by following our own desires and plans without consulting him.

It is mind blowing to realize that God's plans for us are actually quite simple, so simple that many times we miss them. Like in everything, we tend to get busy, to complicate our lives...we look for something more difficult, more complicated as if we think we are expected to do to please God.

One day, a close friend to us, our spiritual leader (for a home cell group) in England, said something shocking, something that changed the way I live my walk with Christ. He said if we can only live our lives meditating "on the cross"...on what the cross means, what Jesus did on the cross and what that means to me...what the cross has given me... our lives would be transformed.

Rather than thinking on what I do and what I don't do to please God, whether I sin or not, whether I'm putting enough effort or not, am I praying enough or not, am I reading the Bible "enough" or not...rather than all those things we tend to analyze and complicate our lives with, I must just "look at the cross", meditate on it and everything else will fall into place. When we truly understand the meaning of the cross, the power of it...the simplicity of it, our lives will be truly transformed.

Jesus told us what to do to follow God's plan: BELIEVE!!

Just think about the simple, uncomplicated approach a child has to life... for example, I have two daughters, 5 and 2 year-old. One thing they have in common...they are going to enjoy themselves if at all possible. They are carefree and completely without concern. They believe what they are told. Their nature is to trust (BELIEVE). They are simple, and they approach life with simplicity. They believe everything is fine and everything will be fine. They believe in provision. They don't know and they don't worry where their next meal will come from, but they know (believe) it will come anyhow.

Everyday these girls remind me that I need to develop this aspect of childlikeness as I relate to God and as I go about my life.

Learn to keep life as simple as possible. It's liberating. You won't regret it ;-)

Remain blessed x