Carry Your Cookie

Yesterday I was in Trader Joe's, and a cookie box caught my eye. Then I told it to let go, and it did. Just kidding. Anyway, the box has a little drawing of a guy who looks like he is supposed to be carrying a giant rock or something, but the "rock" is a big chocolate chip cookie. To scale, the cookie is almost the size of the man. It's kinda funny! But it made me think. There is a verse in the Bible in which Jesus says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Another verse says, "The commandments of the Lord are not burdensome..." I always used to think of obeying God as a burden. It seemed such a big task that I just didn't even want to try. I have thought of most things as a burden because growing up, I had a number of seemingly insurmountable pressures in my life. But I am starting to experience how God is not an authority that pressures. It doesn't mean He doesn't have standards. God's standards are much higher than ours. But so is His love. When we make mistakes, He shows us grace, not anger. When we let His love change us, which it does because of His power, good works will flow naturally. It's like growing an apple tree by nurturing the soil, not attaching good apples to the ends of the bare branches. If the growing conditions are good, you know the apples will be the natural outpouring. In that sense, the easy yoke Jesus describes, that of merely adoring His sweet self and letting Him love us, is kinda like shouldering a huge, giant...chocolate chip cookie. Mmm. :)