How To Be
What
You Need To Be
Is
there a secret to being the kind of Christian that you should be? How does one find the strength to overcome
temptation? How does one follow through
with doing those good things that he or she knows to do? How do we conjure up the motivation that we
need to study and understand the truths in God’s word? I believe Jesus answered these questions when
he stated, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind. This is the
great and first commandment” (Matt
You
see, contrary to what some believe and teach,
following God’s will is not easy. Think
about any number of God’s commands and you’ll see what I mean. “Love your enemies…” (Matt
Yet, even in light of these and so many other commands, Jesus tells us “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:30). And John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome (I John 5:3). How can this be? The burden of God’s commands is not “light” because He doesn’t expect much out of us; it can only be “light” due to His undying love for us and as a return of our love towards Him.
Our following God’s will could be likened to this analogy: Imagine you were required to carry around a fifteen pound bag of potatoes wherever you went. This would likely be a burden that none of us would be glad to bear. But, what if those potatoes were replaced with your own infant child? The task of caring for the child would certainly be more daunting that carrying the potatoes. The reason that we would choose the more difficult task is the love we would hold for our child. It is love that would lessen the grievousness of the task.
God
expects a great deal from His children, but sufficient love for Him should
carry us through. And don’t forget,
everything God commands, if followed, will only improve our happiness and
quality of life (Jn
----Darrell Powell