Stop Adding to What God Already Said
Lately, I have been realizing how often I make the spiritual life harder than God makes it.
Not harder in the sense of effort. Following Christ requires sacrifice, repentance, and perseverance. But harder in the sense that I keep adding layers, explanations, fears, and narratives on top of things that are already clear.
I read Jeremiah 17:19–27 this week, and what struck me was how simple God's command was.
The people were told to honor the Sabbath.
Listen to the Lord.
Keep the covenant.
Walk in obedience.
That was it.
The problem was not a lack of information. The problem was a lack of fidelity.
As I sat with the passage, I found myself asking a question that has been surfacing more and more in my own life:
Why am I always adding?
Why do I turn simple obedience into a complicated spiritual project?
Why do I spend so much time trying to analyze whether I am doing God's will instead of simply doing the next thing He has already placed before me?
There was a season after my conversion when everything felt urgent. Every Scripture passage seemed to unlock another mystery. Every conversation felt like a debate. Every moment carried a sense that I needed to figure everything out right now.
There was zeal in that season, and I am grateful for it.
But as the years pass, I find myself hearing the Gospel differently.
The Christian life is not a scavenger hunt for hidden knowledge.
It is not a constant attempt to diagnose our spiritual condition.
It is not an endless effort to explain every mystery of providence.
At its core, it remains wonderfully simple:
Go to church.
Pray.
Repent.
Receive the sacraments.
Love God.
Love your neighbor.
When you fail, return.
Then continue.
The older I get, the more I appreciate that Christ did not leave us with a complicated system.
When asked about the greatest commandment, He did not produce a list of one hundred requirements.
He said:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
”You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
On these two commandments depend on all the Law and the Prophets.”
Sometimes I wonder if we spend years trying to climb spiritual mountains while God is simply asking us to take the next step.
Show up to Mass.
Be patient with your children.
Forgive the person who hurt you.
Pray before bed.
Go to confession.
Help someone in need.
Honor the Lord's Day.
Not because these things are small, but because they are the very places where holiness is formed.
One of the surprising lessons of adulthood, fatherhood, and conversion is that maturity often looks simpler than enthusiasm.
The saints never became less serious about God.
They became less complicated.
They learned to trust.
They learned to surrender.
They learned that grace is not earned through constant striving but received through faithful cooperation.
As a father, I see this in my son all the time.
Children often complicate things because they are still learning.
Adults do the same spiritually.
We think there must be another secret, another insight, another technique that will finally bring peace.
Meanwhile, Christ stands where He has always stood, saying:
Follow me.
Not after you understand everything.
Not after you solve every mystery.
Not after you finally figure yourself out.
Today.
Right now.
Take up your cross.
Follow me.
Jeremiah reminded me this week that God has already spoken far more clearly than I often admit.
The challenge is not discovering another command.
The challenge is living the ones I already know.
And perhaps that is enough for today.
Honor God.
Love your neighbor.
Return when you fail.
Continue walking.
That is not the beginning of the spiritual life.
That is the spiritual life.