Chapter 10 - From Duty to Delight
The more I dig into this exchanged life truth, the more my understanding of Christianity is turned on its head. So much of what we think we are supposed to do (prayer, Bible study, service, missions, tithing, etc) we do with the attitude that by doing these things we will grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus. Often what develops is a life of duty, expectation, and flesh-driven efforts, with no change in our relationship with Jesus at all. Oh, we may see Him more often in those efforts, but seeing Jesus is a lot different than knowing Jesus.
What the Bible does is turn the whole idea of human effort & service upside down! If our entire focus is on knowing Jesus; on a relationship with Jesus; and allowing Him to live His live in us, through us, as us, everything else will follow. If our focus is on "believing the one He sent," as I have mentioned before, all of the doing will take care of itself. Instead of our actions being the yeast in our lives that draws us closer to God, the realization and acceptance of Jesus-in-us becomes the yeast that grows and expands His actions through us. I think it is the switch from a "me" focused relationship with God to a Jesus-focused relationship with me. That we focus on the gift; on the grace; on the utter simplicity, magnanimity, majesty, wonder, and freedom available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. That we accept what the Bible says about Jesus and live in a life that is so much different than the life many Christians understand they are called to.
One of the people in our book study keeps saying how easy this is. But how hard they think it is supposed to be. (Because we have been taught it is supposed to be hard) And we continue to return to Matt 11:29-30, "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." We have been taught that a relationship with Jesus is hard work. I think we have been taught wrong. Rob Bell explains that we hear the word "yoke" far differently than Jesus' listeners would. To study under a rabbi and to learn to be like him was called, "taking his yoke." It could be very hard work as some rabbis were severe taskmasters. But it meant those studying under him were working to become just like him. We read "yoke" and think of lumbering water buffalo struggling through the mud and pulling against a load, harnessed to a heavy collar; a yoke. So when we read this passage where Jesus is telling us that following Him and becoming like Him is light work; and that anything we are called to carry or pull is light; and that this "yoke" of His will give us rest -- we have difficulty because we already have a picture in our mind of how hard it is. But that comes from human teaching, not from Jesus. Let's take Him at His word and trust that what He says is true regardless of what we have been taught.
When we open a gift from a friend, do we sit and look at it and think about how hard it is going to be to open and wonder if we'll open it properly? If we think about hard work at all, we think about all the effort and love and energy that went into getting and giving the gift to us. We are grateful and humble and joyful and called only to accept and enjoy the gift. The work was all done before we received the gift and whatever the gift is, it will function as it should in our lives if we let it -- a jacket will keep us warm; a can opener will make opening cans easier; a cheesecake will give us (and maybe our friends) pleasure...Our joy at giving and receiving gift is a pale shadow of God's joy in the gift of forgiveness and new life He gives us in Jesus.
When we recognize this gift for what is is, that we are only called to surrender and let Jesus live in us, through us, as us. The "do's" of life fade away. Oh, we will still pray, and read our Bible, and do things (Jesus is never inactive) but they will come as a response, not as a method or responsibility. Our struggle to live a "godly" life will change to simply the desire to know Jesus more. As we do, He will flow out of us and live the "Christian" life that only He can life.
Our struggle with making the right choices and staying in the "will" of God will fade away as we live day-by-day in Christ. If we believe Paul in 1 Cor. 2:16, "But we have the mind of Christ," we can live confidently that Satan is only a spectator in our lives and that "I have been born of God and the evil one cannot touch me," 1 John 5:18. Our beliefs can once again be turned on their heads and we can recognize that the power of Christ in us is stronger than the power of Satan outside us. Why is it that we so often maximize the power of Satan to cause us to sin and completely downplay the power of Jesus Christ in us to prevent exactly that!?
McVey has a great sentence near the end of this chapter, "Grace allows abiding believers to act in confidence that a sovereign God above is directing our circumstances, that a supernatural Spirit within is directing our thoughts, and that an omniscient Christ is expressing His life through us." His yoke is easy, easier than we thought. Put it on. Follow Him. The "burden" of being a Christian is light. And a relationship with Him will give you rest.
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