Easy.
It’s easier to criticize than create.
It’s easier to be a self absorbed than to care about others.
It’s easier to lie than tell the “messy” truth.
It’s easier to resent someone than to lovingly confront them.
It’s easier to “slack” than it is to excel.
It’s easier to compromise than to live a life of integrity.
It’s easier to “fake it” than it is to be transparent and “real”
It’s easier to be religious than righteous.
It’s easier to cling to what we have- than to generously give to others.
Unfortunately “easy” doesn’t equal “rewarding”. “Easy” doesn’t lead to lasting happiness. It’s the difficult things we do in life that truly lead to significance and success.
Jesus said it this way in Luke 7:13-14. 13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
Being part of God’s kingdom is not easy. It is often joy filled. It’s very rewarding… but rarely “easy”. Doing the “right” thing rarely is. Jesus said the “Highway to Hell” (yeah AC/DC stole their most famous song from JC :-) is the “easy” way to live. Easy…but deadly.
God doesn’t “narrow” the gate to life to keep people out…it’s just naturally more difficult to enter. God doesn’t make the “road” difficult for those who are part of the kingdom of God…it’s just a more (temporarily) difficult path we have chosen. So…Why do we often feel like we are doing something “wrong” when doing the right thing is difficult? Why do we ask “Where is God” when the road is narrow and difficult? It would be nice if there was an “Easy Button” sometimes…