Church attendance, Bible study, prayer, gospel meetings, concern for brethren, sacrificial giving, volunteer duties, self-sacrifice, benevolence, hospitality, etc., etc., etc. It is a substantial commitment to become a Christian.
Of course, anything of importance and value takes commitment. A sports fan will spend hours and money following his team. Travels to away games, purchasing clothes and trinkets to “represent” their favorites. The cost of season tickets. Hours spent at the stadium. The tedium of traffic congestion, etc., etc., etc. And yet, it is not considered burdensome, rather these are sacrifices born out of devotion and interest.
It doesn’t matter the hobby or interest. Painting, music, hiking, photography. I just read of a new pickleball venue that is opening this month in White Settlement. Pickleball, coming for only $129 per MONTH. Who knew? And yet, the pickles will be balling! Rules will be learned, tournaments will be entered, skills will be honed, lessons will be taken. All of it willingly, even eagerly because of the joy it brings to the picklers.
Then some suffer the loss of ardor or enjoyment. Season tickets are declined, trips are no longer taken, jerseys are left unworn in the backs of closets. It becomes too much to go, to do, to practice what once had been a passion. In short, our interest becomes a burden to us.
Unfortunately that happens to too many Christians. Consider the church at Ephesus. Established by Paul on his second missionary journey, only several decades later it was described by Jesus Himself as having “left your first love” (Revelation 2:4). That didn’t mean they had stopped working. Jesus said, “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary” (Revelation 2:2-3). Consider that there is no indication they had started wavering in their efforts, and yet, something had gone missing. What once was a joy, a devotion born out of interest and love, now was a burden to them.
God expects that love and devotion. For its own sake, and for what it keeps in abeyance. Take for example Judah after the return from Babylonian captivity, as recorded by Malachi. Their sacrifices had become a burden to them, and had affected the quality of their efforts to serve God. “But you profane it [the name of Jehovah, their God], in that you say, ‘the table of the LORD is defiled; and its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’ You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it, says the LORD of hosts. And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand? Says the LORD. But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male, and takes a vow, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished — for I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and My name is to be feared among the nations” (Malachi 1:12-14).
The Jews here had taken it a step further than the church in Ephesus. Their view of godly service was devoid of love. They had reached the point where they viewed it as a burden. They sneered at it, (to puff, to snuff, to blow hard). They were put out. To them it was an unreasonable burden at which they chafed. Why should they have to do such a thing? The answer is in the text itself. “‘For I am a great King’, says the Lord of hosts, ‘and my name is to be feared among the nations.’”
In fact, what is required of us is not unreasonable at all! Paul wrote to the Romans, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
Because God is who He is has a right to expect diligence and ardor from us. It is not enough to do, God expects us to do and to enjoy. All of the paragons of faith mentioned in scripture understood it was their duty to serve God, but their motivation was much more than just that! Consider the motivation of the Psalmist in His devotion to the words of God. “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Psalms 19:10 ). The Psalmist rejoiced in his heart over the statutes of the Lord (cf. 8). He invested Himself in God’s will not only because it was his duty to do so, but because he wanted it! It was not wearisome, it brought wisdom and joy to him.
Yes, we have a cross to bear. We have a yoke we must use to work the works of God. We have a burden to carry. But the burden is light! (cf. Matthew 11:30). Remember Paul’s words, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
