Jesus Used THIS WORD to Describe the Life He Wants You to Have
The world has no lack of discouraging things it can send your way on a daily basis. This is why we need God's daily, fresh words to lift us up and encourage us with His Truth.
Below is pictured one such daily word that is part of my new devotional Words That Proceed.
If you cannot read it from the picture, I have copied the text below:
32 Easy
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:30 ESV
“Easy.”
That’s not the word we’ve been trained to believe that Jesus wants for us. Many many many adherents to the faith would claim or do claim whether by spoken words or the lifestyle they lead in the name of faith (not in Jesus’ Name!) that the word is actually “hard.”
Their theology silently whispers that God is most pleased when things are hard for us.
For how can we learn to trust Him, they reason, unless things become hard for us? But let me ask you—is that how a father thinks of his children? Is that a father’s hope for the little ones he loves? Is that how a father teaches trust? By making things hard on their child?
Consequences are necessary, to be sure, but what’s with this image of God as someone who is always trying to teach us a lesson? No place for enjoyment—always trying to spoil our plans. That kind of living actually agrees with a foreboding spirit in the name of faith!
My point is this—while trials are definitely times for us to grow in our faith—God’s ultimate desire isn’t for us to constantly be going through hardships or living a hard life. That would be like God never wanting the Israelites to go to the Promised Land.
So perhaps you are on the banks of a Jordan River in your own life.
As you look back, you can see desert—sometimes for miles and miles (or years and years). So much so, in fact, that the landscape behind you threatens to define your expectations of what’s in front of you. No matter how “promising” that land looks, the geography that you’ve come from can easily make you doubt not only the best ahead, but also God’s heart.
“Easy” is probably not the word you’d chose to describe your expectations of the coming year…
But what if that changed?
What if the Promised Land became your expectation instead of more desert?
What if you took Jesus at His Word—His one simple word: EASY.
Allow God Himself to confirm if He is speaking that word to your heart. But never make the mistake of allowing your yesterdays to define your tomorrows.
The most important question is, “What is God currently saying?”
I hear Him saying the most beautiful and welcome word: Easy.
*If you enjoyed this excerpt from my new devotional, Words That Proceed: 97 "Right Now" Devotions for Your Life Today, I invite you to pre-order a copy for just $2.99. The price will go up next week.
Thank you and God bless!
Wes Raley