We are so good at being good, we have a word to describe individuals who are hyper focused on it: perfectionist. We put attention into all kinds of things, our home, our work, our family, our social media, politics, but what if we were never meant to be perfect, or even pretend we can be close?
Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong? Like you weren’t good enough or didn’t live up to the standards that either you or other people had set? In Ephesians 2, we will learn that this is not something that is new to our world. We will see how all were once separated from Christ, not originally included in the promises of God, but that Jesus made a way to extend the invitation to belong to the family of God for ALL people, including me and you!
Most of us worry, like a lot. Like we can be pro worry-ers. Yet so much of what we worry about is out of our control, and in some cases, God is inviting us to entrust it to him, to trust that He cares about it, trust that He knows about it.
Jesus says that his yoke is easy and the burden is light. This phrase of a yoke and burden was commonly used by rabbis to speak about the expectations for those who would choose to follow them. Jesus is painting a picture of discipleship that sounds less stressful than the way in which many of us follow Jesus. So why exactly is his yoke easy, and what does it mean for us?