Encouragement

You take a step down the stairs and then another. Suddenly, overcome with joy, you’re dancing. People stare, but you don’t care. You keep dancing with a joy you’ve never experienced before. You dance across the street to the park and rip off your tennis shoes and socks. You dance on the grass, feeling its prickliness on the bottom of your feet. You’re alive again!

When I came to Christ as my Savior, an easy yoke was one of the promises He made to me along with every Believer. It’s not a promise of wiping away every problem in my life by sweeping me away to a palace high in the Rocky Mountains where servants will provide my every whim until I resemble a Hampshire hog wearing Harry Potter glasses.

I’m not a Christian because I chose God. I’m a Christian because He chose me. That’s why we believers are an enigma to the world. The world believes I made the choice to go to a boring ol’church service when I could have gone golfing all day with a bunch of buddies. The world wonders if I’ve lost all common sense.

That’s because we Believers are hypocrites. Much like non-Believers, Believers are unable to live perfectly according to the commandments of God. However, I would rather be a Christian accused of hypocrisy than a non-Christian who might never be called a hypocrite.

If it seems like the entire world has turned against you including everyone’s dog, cat and guinea pig, free yourself from that heavy burden by turning to God who loves you without conditions. From this moment, live in the glow of this reciprocal glorying in which your life is spent glorifying Him in every way. In return, He brings His glory to you by affirming you as His and giving you the best purposes ever. Embrace that. And sleep well.

There is no law? Yikes! That’ll leave a mark. Without law, the world descends into a constant Black Friday frenzy at WalMart.
Yet, in Galatians 5:22-23, the Bible declares no law exists if certain conditions are met: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

When we think of the law, images of being arrested and handcuffed fill our minds. Then come images of jail cells filled with other ‘criminals’ who look like they would eat us alive if given the chance. Men with tattoos the size of Texas who got their start in crime by stealing milk money from first graders. Next, we’re brought before a judge, who passes a sentence upon us because we’ve transgressed the law. How is any of that an ‘easy yoke?’

Five addictions—five nooses around his neck. Nooses not meant to destroy him immediately, but nooses intended to slowly carve him into nothingness. The addictions desire that he still breathe. But they want him to always be willing to trade his last breath for another ‘fix.’

Maybe we should follow Voltaire’s advice and invent ‘God.’ However, that’s been done over and over, and, honestly, we still have evil everywhere. From boys throwing missiles from overpasses to dictators slaughtering millions. Inventing ‘god’ after ‘god’ hasn’t helped at all.

The world compares Paul’s life and Ben Franklin’s life, and comes to the conclusion that Franklin’s life is far superior to Paul’s. What the world sees is Franklin’s life overflowing with prestige and power and worldly comfort. What the world doesn’t see is Paul’s life overflowing with peace.