YouTube Channel Video Devo
“There Is No Easy Button”
Luke 9:23 NLT
Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.”
Remember many years ago the commercial for Staples store with a button that says, “That was easy”? We actually have one of those buttons at my work on top of the corner of a cubicle. One of the IT guys usually walks by and hits it and we laugh. I remember through the years talking about that commercial and how so often it would be nice if certain things were easy. Don’t we all feel like that?
As a parent, I often hear my kids make comments and complain about how they wish life were just easier. As much as I lecture them about this, I have to admit I do feel the same way many times. There are times in life when I just wish things could be easier. Why can’t raising kids be easier? Why can’t my job be easier? Why can’t marriage be easier? Why can’t school be easier? The list could go on and on.
As I think about how we’ve become so accustomed to comfort in our lives and finding the easiest way to do things, I can’t help but think about how this is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught us about life. He came and lived anything but an easy life. Pretty much everything He did was the opposite of easy. People around Him often complained about how hard things were. But He taught so often that “hard” is good. It teaches us and creates character and perseverance in our lives.
Jesus was very clear to us about how we need to carry our cross daily. If we want to follow Him, we cannot expect an easy life. We cannot live daily wishing that everything was easy. Even though we would often want this, living easy does not produce growth in our lives. The challenges I experience in my life are often not wanted or easy, but they definitely help me grow as a person and in my faith.
Friends, we must stop holding on to the “easy button” and wishing so much in life was easier. We must remember the life that God called us to live should be anything but easy. God’s call and challenge to us is to grow and be stretched in our faith every day. Through the pain and trials of carrying our cross daily, we learn what it truly means to live a life that Jesus calls us to.
There is no easy button for our lives in Christ. We were meant to live a life that is full of challenge and growth. An easy life will not produce growth and character.
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