“Easy is a soul word, not a circumstance word; not an assignment word.”

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 126). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

There are a lot of verses in the Bible that we love to quote. On the surface we think we know what they mean but in reality we need to go below the surface. Matthew 11:30 is one of those verses. In the NIV it says, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” and when our circumstances are difficult then we get confused and our faith is hurt.

But John here shares that, “Easy is a soul word, not a circumstance word; not an assignment word. Aim at having easy circumstances, and life will be hard all around. Aim at having an easy soul, and your capacity for tackling hard assignments will actually grow. The soul was not made for an easy life. The soul was made for an easy yoke.” That is so important for us to see.

John starts this section by saying, “In the Bible, God never gives anyone an easy job. God never comes to Abraham, or Moses, or Esther and says, ‘I’d like you to do me a favor, but it really shouldn’t take much time. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.’ God does not recruit like someone from the PTA. He is always intrusive, demanding, exhausting. He says we should expect that the world will be hard, and that our assignments will be hard.”

Now some preachers in their interpretation of what Jesus says can give you a false sense of what it means to follow Christ but Christ is always honest and what He says He means.

I last year read through the four stories in the New Testament about Jesus life here on earth. I read then 13 times. I wanted to reinforce in me what He did and what He wanted and I found that He did not live an easy life and He asked me to follow Him. He said that I didn’t have to do it alone and I would find it to be an abundant life, an exciting adventure.

As John said, “Aim at having easy circumstances, and life will be hard all around. Aim at having an easy soul, and your capacity for tackling hard assignments will actually grow. The soul was not made for an easy life. The soul was made for an easy yoke.” It is your choice.

So what is your aim?

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