Easy and Light

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:29-30 NIV

That’s how I believe the Christian life should be. We were born to do this. It’s in all our genetic makeup, spiritually speaking, and I believe God’s specific call for each of us is a perfect fit for our personalities, passions, and gifts. If we get it right, changing the world should be the most natural thing we ever do.

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Since high school, I’ve always used my musical abilities in ministry, either as a singer, songwriter, part of a Christian band, or a worship leader. Particularly as a young adult, I took it very, very seriously.

I don’t know when it happened, but at some point, my Dad, noticing that I wasn’t enjoying myself nearly as much as I should be, pulled me aside and said, “Son, it’s an awful lot of pressure thinking you have to change the world every time you open your mouth.”

I didn’t listen to him at the time…I thought he was being shallow. Years later, however, the wisdom contained in that little comment has literally saved me from ministry burn-out and taught me to have fun with my life. My Dad made me think, “Hey, it’s God’s job to change people…I’m just here to make the connection.”

Now I realize that my entire life is ministry. Imagine the pressure I could be putting myself under if I didn’t understand that the call of God comes without pressure. As you begin to process the idea that you are in this world to impact it the same way Jesus did, you need to be very certain of something: the pressure is not on you.

Easy and light

Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you…” which means He wants us to do what He did. But He also said, “…my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Not only do I believe God has called us to do much more than most of us do, but I also believe He intended for it to be much easier for us than most of us make it. In fact, I suspect that the more we do, the easier it should get.

Take a look at those two statements—first, the call to do what He did. What a monumental call! How many of us actually have the courage to see the Christian life this way? I believe that most of us reject this call, either consciously or unconsciously, because it just seems like too difficult a job. However, Jesus did not only issue a call; He made sure we knew the pressure would not be on us.

First, He promised it would be easy. That word “easy” doesn’t mean there will be no effort involved, but rather that the work will be a perfect fit for us. He’s telling us that fulfilling His call on our lives will be natural—that it will feel right. Jesus’ call, though it may seem overwhelmingly grand, is guaranteed to be something we feel like we were born to do.

Second, He says it’s light. Very simply, it just means that when you’re fulfilling your call, it won’t really seem like work. We may get very tired, and you may appear to make great sacrifices, but to you, it will be a joy. There is an old saying: “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

I remember spending countless hours perfecting music with friends in high school, or spending entire days alone in a practice room in college writing songs on the piano. Some might call that hard work, and in a sense it was. I would emerge from some of those sessions blurry-eyed, half-witted and much in need of food and rest. However, I was invariably much more exhilarated and energized than exhausted. That work was not really work at all.

That’s how I believe the Christian life should be. We were born to do this. It’s in all our genetic makeup, spiritually speaking, and I believe God’s specific call for each of us is a perfect fit for our personalities, passions, and gifts. If we get it right, changing the world should be the most natural thing we ever do.

Matthew 11:29-30
Philippians 2:13
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24