Simplicity

If you ask me, Mark 10:1-16 is a very interesting passage.  The Pharisee's are questioning Jesus about the issue of divorce.  But they are not seeking answers.  They are simply trying to test him.

When someone questions another, they either already disagree or have ill intentions.  For the Pharisee's, they wanted to sort of debunk Jesus as the Messiah.  When we question someone, it's usually because we disagree with them and are asking a question in a manner that intends to prove our point.  But when we ask a question (different from questioning), it's from a posture of humility and a desire to better understand.  This is not the posture the Pharisee's had.

The Pharisee's simply wanted to undermine Jesus and to do so they question him out of nowhere.  There has been nothing about marriage or divorce up to this point in Mark's account.  So, Jesus doesn't join in their rhetoric of intellectual gymnastics, but instead points them to God's original design for marriage.  In other words, he essentially says, "Rather than trying to figure out how to navigate all the boundaries outside of God's design, how about just pursue what God originally intended?"

At this point in the book of Mark we see Jesus being very specific about what it means to follow him.  Denying ourselves to join in all God is doing, depending on God as we do that, serving others and taking sin seriously has been his points thus far.

Through this encounter with the Pharisee's, we see yet another important point: pursue living in God's ways.  What does that mean?  Well, it simply means we are trying to live in such a way that honors what God actually wants for us.  We are trying to live as He originally intended for human beings to live (i.e. the list in the above paragraph for starters).  But we can often make this far more difficult than it is.  Here are some points I tried to make:

1. As adults we often get caught up in all the "what-if" statements and scenarios of any given situation.  When we do this things usually become very complex and choosing a direction to go can be very difficult.  There are always issues to be sifted through and things are rarely as simple as we would like them to be, but Jesus points us back to the simplicity of God's design. 
2. The best way to navigate the complexities outside of God's design in midst of a broken world is to focus on the simplicity of the gospel and what that good news calls us to be a part of - God's ways, God's Kingdom.

I'm not sure what complex situation(s) you are having to navigate right now, but I would encourage you to simply focus on what God is trying to accomplish and prioritize accordingly.  It's amazing how simple things can be when we do that.  Join in all God is doing.  Depend on Him as you do that.  Serve and focus on others.  Take sin seriously and run to God in repentance.  Focus your mind on working toward what God originally intended.

I know, I know....that's not easy to do.  But it is simple.