As I have thought about it through the day, I feel like God has brought some clarity in regards to my prior post about why we are so rest-less and exhausted when God offers us a life of peace and rest and a “light yoke”.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 22:37-39 – Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Here are some of those thoughts…
1. I think that the abundant life that God intends for us, is simpler than we make it. If we are loving God and people, the important things all fall in place and the rest is unnecessary or just gravy. (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart…love your neighbor as yourself.”)
2. I think that some of our heaviness is brought on by the weight of false guilt, feeling bad when we cannot do anything and everything for anyone and everyone.
3. I think that when our motivation for what we do is based on obligation, it feels like an endless list of things that we will never get quite right. But if our motivation is based on a love for Jesus, then we realize that the list is very short, as He knows we are made of dust and will never give us more than He knows we can handle. (“I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you”)
4. My experience has shown me that when I walk hand in hand with Jesus through all the stuff that is my day, my mundane chores take on new meaning knowing that he is doing those things right along with me. (“Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it”)
5. Abundant life – Jesus offered it. What does it mean? Does it mean full as in crazy busy, ever on the go? I don’t think so. It means full in terms of satisfying and rich and delicious, like a wonderful meal. And the times we grasp that abundant life, at least for me, has nothing to do with how much we have or how much we do. It’s when we love God with everything in us which bleeds over into loving others with our lives. That is abundant life. When there is very little focus on me at all… (“Come to me…keep company with me.”)
6. I think that part of enjoying that rest is LEARNING to rest. To SLOW DOWN. To enjoy each of the moments of each day. To learn to SAVOR. This is a big one for me. I tend to go, go, go. But moving to Colorado, God has definitely been showing me how to better do that. And it is making all the difference. (“Recover your life…take a real rest.”)
7. It seems like we sometimes forget that this earth and our experiences here are not the final destination. That can make a huge difference in our perspective. If we think that this is all there is, then life can seem heavy and defeating. But if we realize that this is just a shadow, just a preparation of the glory to come, then we look through the eyes of each day with hope. And hope breeds lightness and peace. And rest. (“Live freely and lightly.”)
I know there is much more that we do and don’t do that can make this life feel more difficult than it needs. Harder that Jesus wants for us. Not that there won’t be trials and struggles. We are imperfect and live in a broken world. But if we realize who Jesus is in our lives and live and breathe with Him, then those trials and struggles will feel less daunting, less heavy. And our daily lives will breathe more deeply. We will live more fully. More abundantly.
Love God. Love people. And really live….
