Simplicity – Part 1 
By Mike Rule

I used test equipment worth many millions of dollars while working in research and development in the auto industry. One day when I went into my test cell, I could not get the test equipment to work. I began checking everything over but the solution seemed elusive. I opened several panels on the test equipment to see if anything was obviously wrong, but nothing was apparent. Since nothing was obvious, I began to work through test procedures. It didn’t take too long before I discovered that there was no electrical power. I spent somewhere around 30 or 40 minutes diagnosing and testing the equipment but could not isolate the trouble. In my mind, I began delving deeper and deeper into the intricacies of everything since I knew the equipment inside and out. After another 10 or 15 minutes of head scratching I was no closer to the solution than when I started. I was totally stumped.

I decided to walk away and get a cup of coffee, hoping that a fresh perspective would help me find the problem. I had no sooner walked away than the answer came like a lighting bolt. With a sheepish grin on my face I turned around, walked back through the test cell door, and pulled the emergency power shutoff switch back on. I laughed as I realized that someone must have inadvertently bumped it the previous night, killing all the power to the testing equipment.

So often we make things more complicated than they need to be while missing the simplicity of the true answer. For us as believers, the deeper we delve into looking for the answers for life, the more frustrating our problems become. But Jesus came to make it utterly simple for us because it is only through love that we can ever find victory; If you know His love, you will love God, love yourself, and love others. (1 John 4:19)

"Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)