Light Burdens and Heavy Burdens

Jesus said to follow him, for "my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I'm sure some new Christians think, "yeah, right!" But what they might not consider, and what I often forget, is the yoke that I have left behind. Following Christ is not easy, but it is easier than dealing with the burden's of sin in this world.

I'm always reminded of the "swamp of despondence" (I think that's what it was called) in Pilgrim's Progress, where it was harder to move forward (towards Christ and the Celestial City) than to turn around and head back to the City of Destruction. Yes, the immediate decisions to follow Christ are harder, but ramifications of returning to the City of Destruction are infinitely harder on us, to the point of our spiritual death.

But, even without considering the eternal ramifications, the pragmatic impact of following / not following is so obvious. When we don't have Christ's yoke, we have another one, even if it's our own yoke, and they're all heavier. The cruel masters of drugs, pornography, sexual desire, anything that rules our lives, will all drag us down and exact terrible payment, even before our eventual spiritual demise without Christ.