In Matthew 11:29-30, Jesus says

“Take my yoke upon you…for My Yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus also says,

“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

So which is it? Easy or hard? Light or heavy?

Both of course…but how?

I can’t wrap my head around it. But I can wrap my heart around it.

Being a Christian is not without its brutal challenges – just read what Paul has to say in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28. Dying to ourselves is a major sacrifice. But remember what we carried before. The chain of our sin was literally dragging us to hell. It was a weight we could in no way handle. We could not save ourselves from that burden. So Jesus took it for Himself and gave us His yolk, a burden that we can carry all the way to Heaven.

Even still, we are only able to carry His burden because He carries us. That’s the beauty of the Gospel. Any commandment we are given, any task we must obey, Jesus has already completed it for us. We have to die to ourselves? Jesus died our death. We are commanded to love God and love others? Jesus loved us first. Everything always comes around full circle, and we are never expected to do anything alone.

That’s why we can carry that weight. That’s why no matter how difficult this life may be, however many trials God allows – it’s easy, it’s light.