“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 AMP)
Jesus is good at inviting people to live as he did, but the Church does not yet excel at this practice. Our most noticeable attempt and success at invitation is expressed through some of our efforts in evangelism. We've learned how to throw out the welcome mat and establish a short-lived atmosphere of invitation. Then quickly afterwards, we change our tone and bring others into our world of obligation.
Somewhere along the line, we lost the concept that we were not only invited to see and enter the kingdom, we’ve been invited to run the race all the way to the finish line, and that we should invite others along with us. As Jesus tells us, this race carries a light burden because he is the one carrying us. But he can only carry us as far as we ask him to. If we stop and camp out too long, the burdens pile back up.
Somewhere along the line, we lost the concept that we were not only invited to see and enter the kingdom, we’ve been invited to run the race all the way to the finish line, and that we should invite others along with us. As Jesus tells us, this race carries a light burden because he is the one carrying us. But he can only carry us as far as we ask him to. If we stop and camp out too long, the burdens pile back up.
“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8 AMP)
When we turn the smile of invitation upside-down, it becomes the frown of obligation. Still, many of us have learned how to force a smile while trudging through a life that we feel obliged to live. Even worse, we've learned to don an undeserved smile, thinking we’ve somehow achieved something without God. All these examples represent lives lived below what's been provided for us.
So how do we transition ourselves from a life of obligation towards a life that draws us forward? Jesus already gave us the answer. He invited us to come, and to continue to both ask and to seek, with the promise that we will find. He calls us forward, beyond the obligations he already fulfilled, so that we can find the open door to more. “More” is what he died for, and more is what he provides so that heaven can show up here on earth—you know, like that prayer we all know (MT 6:9-13).
Once we ourselves become established, we're able to cultivate a transformed environment so that others can move forward. Those who have yet to pass beyond the mire of obligation will always question why they're “doing all the right things,” yet aren’t living the abundant life that Jesus promised. Fortunately, there is more!
