God’s commands aren’t burdensome? A view from our instincts.
Part of me yells out at this too. “Sure they are! Doing things God’s way when I don’t like God’s way is a big burden!”
Let’s think about burdens. Suppose I am to go on a long hike. Better yet, suppose you and your kids are going on a long hike. The kids come out of their bedroom declaring their readiness, but they have their phone, a book, maybe a notebook, or some supposedly indispensable toy. You know that shortly after the journey begins they will saunter over to you fully expecting to make you their pack mule: “Here, mommy,” they will say while holding everything up. What has happened? Their opinions at the beginning have become burdensome. They have baggage and don’t want to carry it anymore. You will speak from experience and tell them they should leave most of this behind and a big argument will ensure.
See our children’s immature sense of things, their lack of experience, their desires do not see the future. Acting on them leads to their becoming burdens.
For the July 4th, 2018 celebrations we went to watch fireworks at Flagler Beach about half-way between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. We arrived when the sun had set, but twilight lingered. After setting up our chairs for the fireworks my son, one of my daughters and I decided to walk up toward the pier as there was live music and tons of people, little fireworks popping off here and there on the boardwalk and down by the sea. As we walked and dodged certain things stood out. “Oh, that young lady doesn’t have anything on besides a T-shirt. Oh, yes she does. It’s a thong.” As it turned out a lot of the young people were like that, and down on the beach they were grinding and probably imbibing the disallowed alcohol and other things. Quite the desire-scene.
After the sky grew its darkness, we got back to our beach-spots for the fireworks. After the finale, we joined the throngs piling off of the beach toward the cars. Do you know what stood out to me on that walk? The more modestly dressed groups of young women with strollers. These were not married groupies, but the downstreams of a thong-lifestyle. There are many other private struggles in that downstream requiring medications like acyclovir; vaccines like Gardasil. Here is a quote from another of Greene’s books, The Quiet American.
‘Where’d he find her? You got to be careful in this town.’ He added gloomily, ‘Thank God for penicillin.’
What is the deal here? Desires are burden catchers.
Desires are burden catchers
James said that when desire conceives it gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown gives birth to death. Hmm.
See life lived chasing the desires that pop up before us is like putting stones in your backpack. That hiking trip gets more and more difficult as these rocks accumulate. Life that way, our way, is burdensome.
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