"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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.â? â??Matthew 11:28-30

      Dear God,

      What does an easy yoke and a light burden look like?

      Love,

     Joe & Jane Christian

     Most Christians, even those who seem to really have their spiritual houses in order, find themselves asking this question on a regular basis. That's because, soon enough, we all discover that life is hard and often unfair, and filled with questions without easy answers. In fact, to be a follower of Jesus sometimes means we'll be persecuted or taken advantage of, and among intellectuals we'll be laughed at and held up for ridicule.

     So what could Jesus possibly mean by an easy yoke and a light burden? In February, we wrote about how to find this "easy yoke".  Trouble is, most of us discover it only briefly, and in passing as we swing like pendulums from the times when we ignore God to the times when He's got our full attention. How to stay focused? Flee leadership, guilt and ego.  Here's what we mean....

     First, when Jesus calls us to Him, He calls us to be followers, not leaders. In fact, it's nearly impossible to find Scriptures that encourage us to be leaders. As we study the prominent people in the Bible, we discover nearly every leader went kicking and screaming into that role, fully aware it was not a path to an easy or enjoyable life. Examples? David. And Saul before him. Moses, Jacob, Gideon; all of them protested when God tapped them for leadership. So joining Jesus on His journey means surrendering to His leadership, and then being content to follow Himâ??and the leaders He choosesâ??instead of trying to be our own boss or run things our way. Even in the church, God warns us to fear the responsibilities He places on us if we are teachers, deacons, elders and other leaders in the church. At work, God often wants us to be content remaining at a level we enjoy and can balance with other parts of life. Walking with Jesus demands we wait to be called to lead. It also means praising Him when we're not called to lead, thus being freed to serve in other ways.

     Second, walking close with Jesus separates us from guilt. When Jesus paid for our sins, they were forgiven and forgotten by God. Only as we walk in Jesus' shadow can we dodge the self-criticism that haunts our souls. Only by sitting at His feet can we ignore the barbs thrown at us by people who know us and know how to make us pay again for sins Jesus already covered. We couldn't stop sinning long enough to earn Salvation, and after we've accepted the grace of Jesus, we don't magically become perfect. In fact, it is this inability to be holy that makes most of us give up on our faith. We forget we are made holy by the sacrifice of Christ and only then are we able to begin taking baby steps away from our sinful default natures. Guilt is Satan's way to make life harder.

     Third, peace comes from being like Jesus, and that means humbling ourselvesâ??even to death if necessaryâ??to the will of the Father. It also means humbling ourselves to each other, which we're only able to do when we're walking close enough to Jesus to see how He does it. The further we get from Him in our daily journey, the more likely we are to push to lead or push to be boss or push to get people to change to please us. Like Jesus, we're to identify the barriers between people and Godâ??and then to do everything we can to remove those barriers so they can see God clearlyâ??and thus, their need for Jesus. When selfish ambition or financial pressure or even "wanting to do big things for Godâ? sucks us away from the footprints of Jesus, we quickly find ourselves miserable, guilty, and lonely.