Following Jesus Makes Life Easier
July 9, 2023Pastor Travis presented "Following Jesus Makes Life Easier" or "Even if He Doesn't." A video of the message is here.
Remember, the current sermon series is debunking commonly held understandings that just aren't true and certainly aren't Biblical, like "following Jesus makes life easier."
Travis made the distinction between easy and good. And his references included the Shadrach, Meeshach, and Abendigo story in Daniel 3:16-18. Those three certainly did not choose the easy way (of bowing to the king) but rather the good and right way of accepting the king's punishment/wrath for believing and having faith in God.
While you might say that the Israelites really didn't have a choice, they certainly did not have it easy in their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness.
Actually, there are many stories in the Torah as well as the Old Testament where people had a very difficult time doing what's good or right or simply what God instructed.
In a way, the Adam and Eve story in Genesis was the beginning of the need to make easy-or-good decisions. While some people think of the story as "the Fall of Man," Dennis Prager suggests in his Rational Bible commentary on Genesis that it was more of a "Choice of Man" (pp. 51-52). Adam and Eve could have had it easy. But instead, they chose the full experience of life over the idealic setting of the Garden. In a way, they chose fulfilled over easy. I think there's a relationship between "good" and "fulfilled." Humans apparently have wanted more than just easy since the beginning, and that "more" includes lots of "not easy."
Bonus
Some more Patriotic Resources
Last week, before the 4th of July, I wrote our Bonus about doing a 4th of July Seder (here), reminding ourselves and our children of the greatness and uniqueness of the United States.
Since this is the Sunday following the 4th of July, I thought I'd throw a couple of other "patriotic" thoughts at you...
First, you might enjoy a book titled, "Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers" (here). I've only read the first quarter so far, but find it fascinating. From the cover leaflet: "No book was more accessible or familiar to the American founders than the Bible, and no book was more frequently alluded to or quoted from in the political discourse of the age. How and for what purposes did the founding generation use the Bible? How did the Bible influence their political culture?" And I think I read somewhere (maybe in this book) that Deuteronomy was the most-quoted of all books (secular and religious) by the Founding Fathers.
Second, a recent Fireside Chat by Dennis Prager layed out the core American Values: e pluribus unum, liberty, and in God we trust (on every coin and paper money). See it here. If you've never watched a Prager Fireside Chat before, this may also introduce you to another great source of wisdom with nearly 300 30-minute episodes.