The Week After Christmas

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Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Jeff Lampl  

The Week After Christmas

                         

"Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."
Matthew 11:28-30 (New living Translation)

"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" paraphrase)

Were time pressure and fatigue and apt description of your life in 2015?   Did they describe the pace and stress of your life during the Christmas season?

I admit it.   Those words describe my 2015!  But that means that there is something wrong, something out of order, something that’s in the way of living the peace that Jesus told us was ours simply for the asking.

So, what’s in the way?  I think that the main thing that’s in the way is me.  Yes, the pressures of work and family and problems and illnesses are all there, but those are just givens in the world as it exists today.   What isn’t a given is our chasing all the things that promise what they can’t deliver.   And we ignore the peace that Jesus offers.  

Many people are really good at leading others, but are terrible at leading themselves.   They (probably including you and me) watch TV instead reading the bible, listen to sports radio instead of all the Christ connecting things we could do while driving, overwork rather than rest, read our iphones rather than talk with our children, spouses and parents, and text rather than listening to and connecting with another person face to face (90% of communication is non-verbal).

How is Jesus’ yoke easy?  It’s easy only when we’re yoked to him and go where he goes, stop when he stops, turn in the direction he turns, speed up when he speeds up, and slow down when he slows down.  This takes attentiveness to Jesus.   Find your own way to be attentive and then demonstrate self-leadership by disciplining yourself to practice it. 

Here’s a hint.  Nothing good is ever accomplished in hurry.  Eliminate hurry from your life.  Do this ruthlessly.   You’re too busy to slow down, you say?   Well then, be busy slowly.   It’s impossible to be attentive to Jesus and the unforced rhythms of his Grace when you rush and hurry.  

In a world where speed is king, it is also true that speed kills, in far more ways than one.   Therefore I suggest a modern day heresy.   Practice the practice of SLOWING.   SLOW is a four letter in 21^st century lingo, but not in God’s vocabulary.

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