Our family is fast learning to love many of the expressions in The Message Bible's unique and refreshing ways to put things. Here's one of our favorites from chapter 11 of Matthew's gospel:
28"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. 29Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 30Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Oh, the joy we have been experiencing learning from Jesus! Oh, the pain we have been experiencing learning from Jesus! Swimming in God's love is a refreshing joy and a real rest. We've also discovered that in our learning to move in His rhythms we have to UNlearn as well. Sometimes, it seems like it gets worse before it gets better. Often with our own selfish agendas at the fore, we so easily respond out of old habits of fear and mistaken notions about God and our "Christianity," and that brings about some painful realizations. As one person said, "Getting to the end of ourselves is not the fun part. It's just the first part" (Jake in the book, So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore!). But, I have this wonderful sense that the joy in this grace journey will outweigh the pain... and it already has!
Learning to live freely and lightly!
~ Skip
2 comments:
Amen! I plan to buy a copy of the Message but have been reading it online in the meantime. I've been making a deliberate choice to enjoy what I have and to throw off self-imposed should-isms. I say self-imposed because others can hoist things on us (along with what we pick up on our own!) but it is up to us if we carry them or cast them aside so that we have room to carry the Lord's easy yoke. Thanks for the as-always-good-thoughts!
Thanks for your comments, Cheryl. I like your word, "shouldisms." A friend of mine likes to say, “Let's stop 'shoulding' on each other.”
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