The title above only applies to a percentage of the human race, both historically and present. A significant portion of the human race has no easy yoke for the future.
Take atheists, for example. The life expectancy of a male is 74 years old. For a woman, it is 80 years old. Transgenders haven’t been around long enough to know what their life expectancy is. Think a moment about that.
Since an atheist is rock-solid in his belief, he must mentally settle on his supposed truth of having approximately eighty years of life. The atheist’s belief arrives at this conclusion: he is only future compost. All that he ever was, all that he ever had, all that he ever accomplished is reduced to him being a pile of fertilizer.
One might argue he did good for mankind. He has a name on a building in Pittsburgh. So, his life culminated in having his name on a building and becoming compost.
The living, omniscient God says differently. He says the atheist will live forever. Regardless what famed atheist Richard Dawkins says, he’s an eternal being. By the power vested in him by almighty God, he’ll live in this life and in the next life.
God further provides the two possibilities: Heaven or Hell. Logically, if Mr. Dawkins rejects God, then God will summon him to Hell. If at some point, Mr. Dawkins realizes his error in rejecting God and turns his life to Him for salvation, he’ll gain eternity in Heaven. It’s a 50-50, one or the other. No third option exists because God says so,
Suppose you’re not an atheist, and you believe in the existence of God. You’ve done no more than lumping God in with all the other things you believe in: Santa, the tooth fairy, and the Chicago Cubs. We need to understand that only believing in the existence of God is actually insulting Him. He wants a relationship with you.
The most dramatic picture of Hell is found in Jesus’ parable in Luke 16. A rich man dies and winds up in Hell for all of eternity. Across the chasm between Heaven and Hell, the rich man spots Abraham.
He cries out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.”
Can you imagine living in an eternal world in which your highest wish is to have one drop of water for your tongue? That is not an easy yoke. That is the most difficult yoke imaginable.
A person who refuses to trust in the saving grace of Jesus can only look forward to a difficult yoke in his future. A glib saying exists about grabbing for all the fun in this life because the next life is going to be hell. I get it. Knowing I would spend eternity wishing for one drop of water to cool my tongue because I rejected Christ would tempt me to grab for everything in this life. This life of eighty years or so would be the only ‘heaven’ I would ever know.
Paul says it best in twelve words: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
Who has the audacity to say that dying is a gain? Only someone who knows without any doubt he possesses the easy yoke of the future.
How can Paul confidently lay hold of that truth? Because he has pledged his life to Christ: “…to live is Christ.”
If atheists are correct, then we are all future compost piles. We only have around eighty years of existence. If that’s the truth, then it doesn’t matter how I live each day. Morals and values don’t mean anything. Relationships don’t mean anything. With no life hereafter, only the present is important.
But Christ says differently: “Come to me…and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you…you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
He includes a perfect future with Him in His promise.