Simplification, a blessing, and a friend can be a demonstration of great wisdom.  A wise person knows how to simplify things. The Proverbs of wisdom, for instance, are not spoken as run-on sentences but rather as short, profound reflections.

Jesus also had a way of simplifying things. In one instance, He summarized the Law with just two Commandments when a lawyer came to Him asking which commandment was the greatest.

Matthew 22:35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Unfortunately, this was not a simplification to make something doable. Yet, I have encountered many people who thought this was a recipe for success in keeping the law, that somehow Jesus was making keeping the Law a doable thing by focusing on loving God this way and loving others.

Some are so caught up in making the grade and impressing God with their efforts of perfection that they actually think Jesus is offering a shortcut.  But such is not the case.

This is a demonstration of how even when a thing is simplified and reduced to the bare minimum, it still cannot be perfectly kept.

In other words, even if eight of the ten commandments and every prophecy were reduced to just these two things, only one person in human history has kept them perfectly, thus putting all others in the same boat of needing God’s grace that is supplied through that one man.

I am not saying that we should abandon our efforts to be disciplined or cease our efforts to pursue God’s will for our lives.  I am simply saying I’ve never met anyone other than Jesus who could even meet this simplified reduction of the Law that Jesus put forth.

Only Jesus perfectly loved the Lord His God with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength and loved His neighbor as Himself.  All others, including myself, have come up short in this matter.  Even after coming to know Jesus and being born again, I still have not perfectly done these two things.  Even when trying to make my best effort to do so, I still have not met the mark of perfection in it.

This understanding and respect for the Law helps me realize my continual need for grace.  There is not a moment in my life that I do not need to trust and rely on the obedience of Jesus on my behalf.  At my peak levels of effort, I still require that the righteousness I boast of is the righteousness gifted to me by faith in Him.  Jesus gifted me with God’s righteousness! Any righteousness I could produce on my own cannot compare with it.  The truth is that the obedience I seek to bring to Him needs to be born out of thanksgiving for who He is and the byproduct of His life in me, not some effort on my part to get His attention and affection.  That has been settled already in Christ.  In other words, I need to live my life out of the righteousness I have in Him.

On the flip side of this thought, a thankful, joyful heart does not produce spiritual laziness and a reluctance to do His will. This is why grace is so empowering.  I continually need His grace.