Life is full of choices from the moment we wake up until we hit the sack. Some of the choices we make are trivial while others impact our lives and define who we are. In his poem, The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost observes, “Two roads diverge in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both.” Acknowledging that a choice has to be made, Frost ends his poem by saying, “I shall be telling this with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence/ Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–/ I took the one less traveled by/ and that has made all the difference.”
Some choices we make impact our relationship with God. Our faith is shaped by our attitude toward God. The wise and the learned, whom Jesus alludes to, are those who feel comfortable with their own wisdom, satisfied with themselves and their achievements. Feeling adequate in life, they focus on practical questions and earthly matters rather than the spiritual. Thus they feel no need for God or religion in their lives so God’s wisdom remains hidden from them.
Jesus extends this invitation to anyone who would listen to travel down his road; “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Many who first heard this invitation were burdened by the demands of their Jewish religion with its many laws, which they referred to as a yoke for good reason. The Pharisees would make the ACLU pale by comparison when it comes to interpreting the letter of the law. For example, so strict was their notion of not working on the Sabbath that a faithful Jew could not even swat an annoying fly. Jesus often criticized the Pharisees for their petty interpretations of the law.
More than once the Pharisees in turn criticized Jesus for doing too much on the Sabbath, like curing the sick. Jesus knew something had to give, so he tells everyone, “Throw that yoke away! Take my burden, instead, which is love!”
Growing up, I sometimes wondered if what the Church told me to do in the name of Jesus was as much of a burden as those imposed by the Pharisees. Don’t do this. Do that. You can’t do this. You must do that. You shouldn’t do this, etc.
Thinking myself wise and learned, I opted at times to ignore some of the moral teachings and commands of the Church. Many of my peers did the same, convinced they could find happiness elsewhere. Not until years later did I realize how unwise some of my choices had been. Even those who are learned have much to learn! When humbled, we begin to see the merits of God’s commands and learn that being spotty in our relationship with God will result in many costly lessons.
A father wanted his son to really understand the importance of making right choices. Whenever the boy made a bad choice or wrong decision, he would have his son hammer a nail into a certain fence post in their back yard.
If the son went through the whole day making good decisions, he would let the boy remove one nail. Until he was 15, there were always a few nails in the post. He seemed to be nailing new ones in as often as he pulled old ones out. In time, the lad started to make better decisions and finally one day, there were no nails left in the post. His father said, “Son, I want you to notice something about the fence post.”
He looked at the post and noticed the many holes where nails had once been. His dad said, “Son, I want to tell you something about bad choices or decisions. Even though you may be totally forgiven for your bad choices or decisions, and no nails are visible, there are the remaining effects, the consequences of those choices and decisions, just like the holes left in that fence post.”
My fence post has more holes than I can begin to count. Many of those holes would not be there had I been humble enough to see the wisdom behind what God asks of us through scripture and the moral teachings of the Church. So long as my attention was on worldly pursuits, I failed to see the value of what Jesus was offering me.
The passage from Paul opens with a choice. “You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.” This choice is ours to make. Do we want the Spirit of God to dwell in us? Or do we focus on worldly pursuits instead? By flesh, Paul means anything that is sinful. Do the choices we make when temptations arise support our best interests and make us truly happy?
As Robert Frost points out, we are venturing down one road or the other. Simple logic tells us that we cannot travel both roads at the same time, or as Paul is trying to tell us, we cannot be both worldly and spiritual. We cannot fully appreciate all that Jesus has to offer while pursuing worldly goods and pleasures.
Accept Jesus’ invitation and see for yourself that his goal is not to burden us but to help us. He wants us to live life fully. When our love of God and others influence the choices we make, we will discover firsthand that his yoke is in fact easy and his burden is light. Do as many others have done. Take the road less traveled by and see for yourself that carrying his yoke will make all the difference in your life.