|
HOUSMAIL HM039 21
September 1999 A LIGHT BURDEN ON A HARD ROAD "Come to me, all who labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for
I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my
yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30) "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is
wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by
it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life,
and those who find it are few." (Matthew 7:13-14) How
can we reconcile those two statements by Jesus? The
first promises an "easy yoke" and a "light burden",
whilst the second clearly implies a LIFETIME of "hard work" on a
"hard road", within well-defined NARROW limits! How
can a burden be "light" if the way is "hard"? There
will always be an impossible conflict if we make the deadly mistake of assuming
that an "easy yoke" means the same thing as "an easy
road". A
"light burden" DOES NOT mean "easy work", or "no
work at all". It does not mean the same thing as the all too common
"cheap grace Evangelical gospel" which absolves from sin without
life changing repentance, and WORKS which prove that repentance is REAL.
Using it that way opens the "wide gate" which leads inevitably to
eternal destruction! What
makes this burden "light" has little to do with its size or weight,
or the distance it must be carried. It has MUCH MORE to do with our
MOTIVATION for carrying it! This is well illustrated by the story of Jacob in
Genesis 29:20. "Jacob
served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because
of the LOVE he had for her". When
we love God with ALL our heart and mind and strength ..... when we love Jesus
enough to obey Him ..... when our first priority in life is our desire to
inherit the Kingdom of God ..... and when our goal is fixed inflexibly on
striving for the holiness and purity of heart which will one day enable us to
see God, then: - all the trials and persecutions, - and all the hard choices
between the world and Jesus, - and all the struggles to overcome temptations
to sin, will seem as nothing in comparison with our hope of eternity. When
we come to Jesus ON HIS TERMS, we will be set free from the heavy burden of
guilt for our sins. Then as we LEARN FROM HIM how to grow in loving obedience
to His words ..... we will know how to walk through the narrow gate onto the
hard road, where our yoke will SEEM easy, and our burden will FEEL light. Allon |