Training vs Trying

Training or Trying     

Do you know the difference?  Jesus says, "Take this yolk upon you and learn from me."  It makes all the difference in the world how we hear those words.  Do we hear than after Jesus has already said, "Come to me and I will give you rest" ?  Or do we hear them as the conditions upon which Jesus will accept us if we come to Him?  

The religious leaders in the time of Jesus knew a lot about trying - and their training was shaped by it.  For them the disciplined life was about becoming good enough - to be acceptable.  What Jesus suggested cut across the grain of that.  He invited people to come and train with Him, not so they could be acceptable, but because they were already on the team, and now could learn to live like Him - not in order to be accepted by Him, but out of the overflow of knowing who they now were in Him.  

In that context, training is what we do to so we can do better the things that may only exist in seed form in our lives - not in order to be alive.  The life is a gift.  The training (though in many ways it is also a gift) is the opportunity to grow that gift.  It may take some effort and intention, but it is energy that grows out of knowing who we are, not who were are trying to be.  It is the training that helps grow the capacity within us to live with greater endurance and strength and integrity as we follow Jesus.

Training vs trying in the spiritual life.  That is what Pastor Jon invites us to think about this morning as he shares with us his reflections on the scriptures, and some of the insights from John Ortberg's book, "The Life You've Always Wanted" (Chapter 3 this week).  If you would like to listen to the sermon once again, or perhaps for the first time, you can access our sermon library by clicking here.  Or if you prefer, you can see the live stream version of the service by clicking here.