Do you ever dream of winning the lottery and what you would do with the money, even though you never buy a ticket? I’m getting to the age where I can begin to dream of retiring, living a simpler life with less demands. Many days when I’m fighting to get out of bed and get going, I run money numbers in my head until finally my self talk kicks in and yells “get up!” It hit me this morning that I’m looking for Easy Street, perhaps a quest that I am not alone in.
Then my next thought was “There is no easy street.” Jesus said that the road is hard and the way is narrow that leads to eternal life and few find it, in Matthew 7. In John 16:33 He said “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” In Philippians 3 Paul talks about sharing in the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings, not just His good times. We live in a sin soaked world that includes paying bills, wood ticks and drudgery. We have bosses and things that we don’t want to do. The first line in M. Scott Peck’s book, A Road Less Travelled is ‘life is difficult.’ Amen brother.
But then in the middle of pondering how it won’t be until Heaven that things finally get easier by design, I was hit with the verses of Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus said, “Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest…My yoke is EASY and My burden is light.” Ponder that for a minute…
In Jesus there is an easy street. How do we get there? Well, in Matthew 6 He tells us not to worry or be anxious, but to seek His kingdom first and the rest is just details. In 1 Peter 5:7 we are told to cast our cares on Jesus and in Ps. 68:19-20 we find: “Thanks be to God who daily bears our burdens, for our God is a God who saves.” Finally, in Philippians 4 we are told to be anxious for nothing, to pray for everything and the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. Those aren’t just words to fill up a page, they are real promises to cling to and to live out.
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