Living “freely and lightly” can sound too good to be true, especially after we read, “Pick up your cross and follow me.” A desire for a new life doesn’t just present itself by magic. It starts with God planting Himself within us and nurturing our desires and longings for something else. The problem is we usually act to fulfill those desires through other means. All Jesus asks is that we spend time with Him and learn from Him.
Scripture:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)
Reflection:
• How can you recover your life if you are “burned out”? Do you feel that this life is possible in the midst of your busy hectic life or do you feel it is only for the chosen few: monks, pastors, and hermits?
Practice:
• Find some time today to just stop your hectic life and sit with Jesus. Read and meditate on this passage to keep you centered as you just rest with God.
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3 comments:
When my eyes and thoughts are fixed on Christ I feel the peace that is promised, the issue is that lifes craziness can so easily distract my thoughts and in turn my behaviors.
I personally LOVE this version of this passage from The Message. For some reason the whole idea of being tired and being burnt out on religion resonates with me. I also love the phrase "learn the unforced rhythms of grace." It makes me think of how God doles out his grace to us... without thought or effort. This grace that He gives us is just a natural outpouring of who he is. There is so much to learn from that... I want to be able to have grace flow out of my life in a very unforced and rhythmic way. It just seems so difficult to do. If it were just easier to "get away" with God. It seems so tough to make that space! This verse makes me long to do that... to get away and learn these rhythms... so desirable yet so difficult!
"How can you recover your life..."
I find myself stuck at the beginning of the reflection question by the word "recover," but not in a bad way. Sometimes the right word placed in the right context has so much more meaning that it normally would, which is what The Message translation has done.
The OED (Oxford English Dictionary, for those of you who aren't word nerds) defines the verb "recover" in two ways and I think that they both apply in a meaningful way. The first definition is "To get (occasionally, to take) back again into one's hands or possession; to regain possession of (something lost or taken away). I am "burned out" becuase the life I know that exists in Christ is constantly being diluted. I can take it back, though; not with hostility or sheer will power, but by following those "unforced rhythms of grace."
The second definition is: "To cover again." Beautiful! One word contains the means and the end. I am covered, again and again, with grace, and in turn recover my life.
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