My Yoke is Easy and My Burden is Light - Jesus
Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
As you begin 2016, are you weary and burdened? Do you experience joy on regular basis? As you look back on last year did you experience joy very often? Or, did you feel stressed most of the time, and running on fumes a lot of the time? When people asked you how you were doing was your most frequent answer, "I'm busy!" Of course God wants us to lead productive lives, but that doesn't necessarily mean being in a hurry all the time.
Psychology Today has called this "hurry sickness". A recent article said, "Do You Suffer from Hurry Sickness? If you suspect you suffer from hurry sickness – either occasionally or chronically - you probably do. Here are some clues:
• Moving from one check-out line to another because it looks shorter/faster.
• Counting the cars in front of you and either getting in the lane that has the least or is going the fastest.
• Multi-tasking to the point of forgetting one of the tasks.
I would add:
- Not shaving in the morning to save time.
- When you read your emails, you jump from whatever you are doing to reply.
- You are on your cell phone every possible moment like at Starbucks waiting for your latte, or waiting at a red light.
- It is hard to listen to the person in front of you, because you are thinking about what you have to do when you are done talking to them.
These are just many of the symptoms we all face living in our fast paced and hurried culture here in Southern California.
It is to us that suffer from this sickness that Jesus says, "Come unto me all you who are wearied and burdened for I will give you rest". You see Jesus doesn't want us to be stressed out, anxious, and hurried all the time. It is certainly not a sign we are walking with him, or living a life pleasing to him. What this type of this lifestyle shows is that we are so driven to succeed that we miss the abundant life he really wants us to have.
And a lot of people think following Jesus requires the same type of mentality. Doing a lot of religious stuff hoping you will earn his approval. Always feeling guilty not thinking you are not good enough? Trying to control and change others?
The only issue is, this isn't how Jesus taught his disciples to live. He said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light".
As we look at the way Jesus lived his life, did he seem stressed out and worried? Was he burdened by the work His Father commanded him to do. As Jesus taught his disciples he gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."
What would 2016 look like if you studied the way Jesus lived his life, and tried to live your life as if he were you? Jesus promises us that His life is not burdensome, but easy.
As you begin 2016, are you weary and burdened? Do you experience joy on regular basis? As you look back on last year did you experience joy very often? Or, did you feel stressed most of the time, and running on fumes a lot of the time? When people asked you how you were doing was your most frequent answer, "I'm busy!" Of course God wants us to lead productive lives, but that doesn't necessarily mean being in a hurry all the time.
Psychology Today has called this "hurry sickness". A recent article said, "Do You Suffer from Hurry Sickness? If you suspect you suffer from hurry sickness – either occasionally or chronically - you probably do. Here are some clues:
• Moving from one check-out line to another because it looks shorter/faster.
• Counting the cars in front of you and either getting in the lane that has the least or is going the fastest.
• Multi-tasking to the point of forgetting one of the tasks.
I would add:
- Not shaving in the morning to save time.
- When you read your emails, you jump from whatever you are doing to reply.
- You are on your cell phone every possible moment like at Starbucks waiting for your latte, or waiting at a red light.
- It is hard to listen to the person in front of you, because you are thinking about what you have to do when you are done talking to them.
These are just many of the symptoms we all face living in our fast paced and hurried culture here in Southern California.
It is to us that suffer from this sickness that Jesus says, "Come unto me all you who are wearied and burdened for I will give you rest". You see Jesus doesn't want us to be stressed out, anxious, and hurried all the time. It is certainly not a sign we are walking with him, or living a life pleasing to him. What this type of this lifestyle shows is that we are so driven to succeed that we miss the abundant life he really wants us to have.
And a lot of people think following Jesus requires the same type of mentality. Doing a lot of religious stuff hoping you will earn his approval. Always feeling guilty not thinking you are not good enough? Trying to control and change others?
The only issue is, this isn't how Jesus taught his disciples to live. He said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light".
As we look at the way Jesus lived his life, did he seem stressed out and worried? Was he burdened by the work His Father commanded him to do. As Jesus taught his disciples he gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."
What would 2016 look like if you studied the way Jesus lived his life, and tried to live your life as if he were you? Jesus promises us that His life is not burdensome, but easy.
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