“And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.”
Acts 15:19 (NLT)
God made salvation easy. It’s a gift, an inheritance, something we can receive, not something we can manufacture or control. And yet we make it difficult on ourselves, often in the church, when people have recently turned to God, or when we’ve known God for a long time and start making following Him too complicated.
When it becomes complicated, we don’t engage with God. We don’t do life today as if we have eternal life when we die. We don’t live with the hope that we attest to have. Like the Pharisees who looked to their past training and their rules and restrictions, we can start adding requirements so we feel like we’ve earned the right to be called a Christian. We turn the “get to” of walking with Jesus into a “have to,” and suddenly the yoke gets heavy.
But James’ conclusion in Acts 15 is clear. Spiritual leaders should not make it difficult, should not make it hard, should not make it complicated, and should not add an unbearable yoke to those who have turned to God. God isn’t asking us to carry what He never put on our shoulders. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. The kingdom is expanding, but it’s still one table, one restaurant, and God is feeding His people in more than one way.
So what have you made more difficult than it needs to be, for yourself or for others? Trust God. Rely on His grace. Let God drive. When we treat everything like a “have to,” we end up trying to be qualified in our own strength, and we make it hard again. But when we simply walk with God, He’s a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. He leads us to green pastures and streams of water, so we can eat and not be thirsty. Accept the easy yoke today and walk with Him.