Hearing Voices

I'm one of those people who thinks too much - I think deeply about things that matter, but I also think deeply about stuff that isn't worth the effort. My own "time management" skills need to take that into consideration when it's time to leave for work but I still want to see what's on SportsCenter in the morning. This morning I had a little time to think during my commute - driving my wife's car instead of my XM-powered CRV, so I wasn't flipping channels and instead enjoyed the traffic, yeeha. I dropped her car at the auto shop across the street to get new shocks, and waited around for someone to drive me to the office while they did their business.

Standing outside, light breeze, blue sky, humidity not turned on quite yet - it was very very nice. And I started thinking: "My idea of what salvation is, what living for God means, how God judges us in the light of everything - making it easier doesn't make it better for anyone else but me." I don't have any idea where that came from, whether it was a burst of sunshine-induced inspiration, or the caffeine still working through my system this morning.

I think the gist of where that's going is that I'd rather "make it harder" when I talk to people about God and living the Christian life - that way, you know up front what the ordeal might hold, and you'll probably discover that grace is really cool in empowering us to do it in the midst of the trouble. In other words, if it's hard, you find that it's oh so worth it. On the other hand, if I somehow "make it sound easy" - without the benefit of maturing through pain and longsuffering, where I'm finding that it's not that hard, but it is, but it isn't, you know? - and a person finds that this "easy path" is really more difficult and treacherous than it seemed, it'll be easier to say, "no thanks" and walk away.

My next thoughts are on whether that's disingenous or not - where's the integrity if I think God's got one thing in mind but I talk about it in a different light? I think that's the question I'm sitting on right now, because more than obeying God, and more than following Him, and more than "accepting Christ into your heart" - this Christian life is BOTH easy and difficult. His yoke is easy and His burden is light - but letting Him carry ours is the hard part, isn't it? Living life, day to day and year to year, in real relationship with Christ - that's the hard and the easy part of salvation, as I'm discovering right now.