Reprioritizing Life: Embracing Relationships and Eternal Purpose

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **Acts 20:24** - "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."
2. **James 1:21** - "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."
3. **Matthew 13:44-46** - "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."

#### Observation Questions
1. According to Acts 20:24, what does Paul consider his life's worth to be tied to?
2. What does James 1:21 instruct believers to do with moral filth and evil? How should they receive the word?
3. In Matthew 13:44-46, what actions do the man and the merchant take upon finding something of great value? What does this imply about their priorities?
4. The sermon mentions the importance of investing in relationships. What are some specific relationships that Jesus emphasizes? [31:50]

#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does understanding one's life purpose, as described in Acts 20:24, influence daily decisions and priorities? [33:12]
2. What might be some examples of "moral filth and evil" that James 1:21 refers to, and how can they creep back into a believer's life? [38:10]
3. How do the parables in Matthew 13:44-46 illustrate the value of the kingdom of heaven compared to other life commitments? [34:52]
4. The sermon suggests that even good things can crowd out better things. How can one discern between good and best opportunities in their life? [44:55]

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your current schedule. Are there any relationships (family, friends, church community) that you have been neglecting? What specific steps can you take this week to invest more time and effort into these relationships? [32:22]
2. Consider your life purpose as a follower of Christ. How can you ensure that sharing the good news of God's grace remains a central focus in your daily activities? [33:37]
3. Identify any "bad things" in your life that do not align with the life of a Christ follower. What practical steps can you take to eliminate these from your schedule? [38:10]
4. Evaluate the "neutral things" in your life, such as excessive television watching or social media scrolling. Are these activities beneficial and constructive? How can you reduce time spent on these to make room for more valuable pursuits? [41:01]
5. Think about the "good things" in your life that might be taking up space meant for "better things." What are some good opportunities you might need to say no to in order to focus on what is best? [44:55]
6. The sermon emphasizes the importance of immediate action in reprioritizing one's life. What is one specific change you can make today to start aligning your life with Christ-centered priorities? [58:45]
7. Jesus invites those who are weary and burdened to come to Him for rest (Matthew 11:28-30). How can you incorporate this invitation into your daily routine to find rest and peace in Him? [01:03:11]

Day 1: Cultivating Intentional Relationships
Investing in relationships is not a passive endeavor; it requires active participation and a willingness to prioritize time with others. Just as a garden needs tending to flourish, so do relationships with family, friends, and fellow believers. These connections are the fabric of a supportive community and are essential for reflecting Christ's love and fellowship. [32:18]

Hebrews 10:24-25 - "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
Reflection: Who in your life could use some encouragement or companionship today, and how can you make time to offer it?

Day 2: Embracing Your Divine Purpose
Understanding one's life purpose is transformative, guiding daily choices and fostering a life centered around the mission of sharing God's grace. This clarity helps to filter out distractions and aligns actions with the higher calling of testifying to the good news. It's a journey of discernment, leading to a life that resonates with divine intention. [33:08]

Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Reflection: What is one step you can take today to live out your God-given purpose more fully?

Day 3: Prioritizing Eternal Significance
The pursuit of eternal matters over temporary ones shapes a life of lasting impact. Involvement in church and spiritual disciplines are investments in the kingdom of heaven, which bear fruit that endures. This focus shifts priorities from the fleeting to the everlasting, ensuring a legacy that transcends time. [36:38]

Matthew 6:19-21 - "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Reflection: How can you invest in your spiritual growth this week in a way that has eternal significance?

Day 4: Discerning the Best Over Good
Life is filled with choices, and discerning the best over merely good opportunities is a skill that leads to a purpose-driven existence. It requires the courage to say no to good things to make room for the best, aligning one's time and resources with what truly matters. This discernment is key to living a life that reflects one's highest values and calling. [48:36]

Philippians 1:9-10 - "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ."
Reflection: What is one "good" thing you can say no to this week in order to make space for something better?

Day 5: The Urgency of Now
Procrastination in reprioritizing life around Christ-centered values only leads to stagnation. The call to action is immediate, as time is a precious commodity that must be used wisely. Embracing this urgency can lead to instant benefits, such as peace and fulfillment, and sets the stage for a life aligned with eternal priorities. [58:05]

James 4:14 - "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
Reflection: What change can you implement today to better align your daily life with Christ-centered priorities?

Because we're all stronger when we're connected to Christ and each other. All of us. It's important to have that connection in your life. But it's not just that relationship with Christ and brothers and sisters in Christ. Other relationships matter. Jesus emphasizes marriage. He emphasizes the importance of parenting and being a child that honors their parents. His friendship is emphasized in Scripture. Relationships matter as Christ's followers.

What happens is when we fill our schedules too much, what gets left out a lot of times? Working on those relationships, keeping them strong, keeping them healthy. It's important if you're going to have a good relationship. Sometimes people say, "Well, I don't have any friends," but you have to be a friend to have friends. In order to be a friend, that means you invest in other people. It's not all about you. You're giving up some of your time and energy and resources and effort to pour into somebody else. That's how friendship works.

If you want to have good strong relationships, good strong marriages, good strong connections in a church home and a church family, you have to invest yourself in that. So refocus on what matters. Relationships matter.

Another thing that matters is purpose, life purpose. It's easy to fill up a schedule with no direction to it. But if you understand that you have a higher calling and purpose for your life, then you get more discerning about what things you fill your schedule with. We have a high and holy calling and purpose as Christ's followers. Paul talked about it in Acts 20 and verse 24. He said this: "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task, the purpose, the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."

If you have tasted the grace of God in your life, there's nothing more important than sharing that with some other people. That needs to be a priority. If you're going to refocus your priorities, understand the importance of speaking out and sharing about the grace of God in your life. You see, we're all saved by grace through faith. None of us has earned it. None of us has worked our way into this. We're saved by grace. And if you've tasted that in your life and understand the value of it, then don't get so busy and overscheduled that you're not fulfilling your purpose of telling others about the grace of God. Don't let that slide. Don't let that get put on the back burner. Let that be a priority in your life. That's one of the most important things you can do.

Well, relationships matter, purpose matters, and they're all connected to what matters most. This eternity matters. The eternal things matter more than anything else. But oftentimes in the busyness of life, what gets pushed to the back burner? The eternal things. The things that are going to last. The things that will remain forever. They get pushed back in our schedules and our activities and our investments.

When we look at how eternity matters, I'm reminded of Matthew 13, where Jesus oftentimes spoke of the kingdom of heaven and describes what the kingdom of heaven is like. And this is one of those cases in Matthew 13, verse 44. He says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again. And then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

What did he decide? He decided the value of what he had found was worth more than all the other stuff his life had been so caught up with and committed to. The kingdom of heaven is that thing for us. It's the most valued treasure we could have. Nothing should get in the way in our life schedule and commitments of our focus on the eternal things of the kingdom of God.

Now, it doesn't mean other things don't matter. It doesn't mean they're not important. It means they're not as important and as valuable or worth as much as that relationship with God through His Son, Jesus, that enables us to be part of the kingdom of heaven. That's the most valuable thing we possess in our lives. So let's not let anything else get in the way of those things that are connected to the eternal things of the kingdom.

That means things like church become a higher priority, things like being part of a church family become a higher priority, things like reading the Bible become a higher priority, things like prayer and fasting become a higher priority in our lives because those are the eternal things of the kingdom of heaven. So they don't get pushed out of the schedule for lesser things. You see, that's the difference. You understand the value. So you don't let that be the thing that gets pushed out. You let a lesser thing get pushed out to make room for the things that really do matter.

All right, so those things, that's just a suggestion. There are other things that matter, of course, but I just wanted to look at some things that might be like the top three things that we really need to understand. We can't let these things get pushed out because of the busyness of our schedule.

So the first principle is to refocus on what matters most. The second one then, in order for us to do that, we've decided what's important. Then we need to take step two, which is to reduce the non-essentials. So we've got the room, we've got the space for the things we've decided really do matter the most. We have to reduce the non-essentials.

I've got a list I'm going to give you of the order of how I try to do this in light of scriptural teachings, okay? In light of scriptural teachings, there's an order to me of things, the way I cut things out of my schedule, to make space and time and energy and resources available for the more important things.

The first area I know I need to cut, it always should be first for everybody, is what I call the bad things, okay? The things that shouldn't have been there to start with. The things that don't fit me as a Christ follower. They don't fit the description of the life of a Christ follower. They don't fit the instructions about how to live life as a Christ follower. So those things should go first. They should be put out of our lives, our schedule.

James says that this way in James 1:21: "Therefore, here's what you need to do, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." Get out the bad stuff so you can fill that space with what? The good stuff. But some of us are holding on to some bad stuff. Or maybe you don't think you are, but it keeps creeping back in, right? It keeps coming back in and taking up some space again that it shouldn't be taking up. It's taking up some time and some energy and some focus that shouldn't be there.

It could be something like looking at pornography. It could be something like abusing alcohol or drugs. It could be something like being dishonest in how you're handling money and business and things like that. Those things keep trying to find their way, creep back into your life. We've got to put that away. We've got to rid it from our lives. That's going to take up space with something that's really, Scripture is clear, things that are bad for us, and we're letting it take up space and time and schedule in our lives. Before you know it, it can start consuming more and more of that time and that space of your life if you don't rid your life of those things.

Now, I'm saying this is simple, but it's not what? It's not easy. For some people, these things have been ingrained for a while and it's hard to just stop. That's why one of the most frustrating things you can do is to try to stop these things in your own strength and your own power instead of by the power of God. You can't do this on your own. Not if you've let it become a part of your life, a habitual part of how you're living life. You in your own strength can't just magically change that, but with the help of God and the presence and the power of God, you call in brothers and sisters in Christ for accountability in those areas, put them around you, you can reprioritize your life and get rid of the bad stuff.

So when we talk about reducing the non-essentials, the bad things should go first. You know those things don't belong. Let's get those things out. That'll free up time and space and energy. The second area that I focus on is what I call the neutral things. Bad things are obvious. Sometimes the neutral things are not so obvious. Nobody would say, "Oh, that's evil. You should not be having that as a part of your life." These things, they wouldn't necessarily say they're great, but they wouldn't necessarily say they're bad. They're kind of neutral things. There's a lot of things like that in life that take up space and time and energy in our lives.

I love what Paul says about this to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 10:23. Here's what he said: "I have the right to do anything," you say, "but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything, but not everything is constructive." Oh, there's a good test to put to it. If something is taking up part of your schedule, your time, your energy, your resources, ask yourself these two questions. First of all, is it beneficial? Is it really helping to have that in your life? Most neutral things aren't very beneficial. They're taking up time. They're taking up energy. They're taking up space, but they're not real beneficial to your life.

And are they constructive? Are they building your life to something better? That's what constructive is, right? You're building on that. That's part of what you've put in there to build on in your life. Is it beneficial to you? And is it constructive for your life? Is it something you want to be building your life on?

I give you an example of a neutral thing, and I'm not trying to pick on anybody because all of us have stuff like this. I'll give you a couple of them. There's nothing wrong with watching television, but we can spend hours in front of that television, right? There's nothing wrong with social media in and of itself. There are some bad things out there, but there are some good things out there. But we can spend hours scrolling, can't we? Gaming, all right? You can spend, there's nothing wrong with gaming. It's a fun thing to do. If you schedule that and you have space for it, there's nothing wrong with playing these games. But you could get so caught up in that, that that's all you're doing for hours.

You see, they're not bad, they're not evil, they're kind of neutral. Most of them, there are also some bad ones out there, but most of them are kind of neutral things. So you have to ask yourself, is it beneficial for me to spend that much time with those things? And more importantly, is it constructive? Is that what I want my life, I want my life to be all about? My schedule to be filled with all of that? Or are there some better things I could put in that space than those things?

All right, so the neutral things, we've got a right to do them. Nobody could say, "You can't do that as a Christian," most of this stuff, yes, of course you can, and be a Christ follower, do those things. But ask yourself how much of your life and your schedule of your life, because your schedule is just breaking down your life into segments, that's all it is. How much of your life do you want to give to those things? Or how much space would you like to free up by getting rid of some of those things?

All right, so you got the bad things, then you got the neutral things, but there's a third category we also need to look at, I call it the good things. There's some stuff, it's obvious to everybody, they're good. And the thing about good things is, sometimes we fill our lives with good things, they look like good opportunities, we commit to them, but then we have to say no to some things that would actually be better things. Sometimes even good things take us away from the better things, the best things.

Paul talks about this in his letter to the Philippians, beginning with Philippians 1, verse 9. He says this: "This is my prayer that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and the praise of God." Discern, be able to discern what is best. You see, what is best can get lost in a lot of other good things that we give ourselves to.

That's probably my biggest challenge as a pastor. I get asked to do so many things and be at so many places and participate in so many events and support so many works, and I have to say no to some of those to really give myself fully and be present in the things that are the most important things for me to be doing with my life. But it's not just pastors. It's every Christ follower. We all have to look at our lives and our time and our schedule.

There's only, people are always saying, "I just wish there was more time." There never will be, friends. You've got 24 hours just like I do in a day. That's just the way it works. There's not going to be any more time. So we have to decide how we're going to give our time of our lives to the things we're going to give it to. And understand how valuable that time is. You never get it back and you're never guaranteed a lot more. So it's important how we decide to use the time that we schedule and give to those things.

So there are the bad things and the neutral things and there are also the good things that aren't evil at all. They're not even neutral. Everybody would say that's a good thing to do. But you have to decide. Remember what it said in this story that Jesus shares with us with Mary and Martha. Mary has chosen what is better. She had a choice to make. Jesus is coming to the house. When you're having a special guest over, what's the, what are you really focused on before they get there? Cleaning the house. If they're coming during meal time, what are you focused on? The food, getting the food ready. Jesus would have been happy if they ordered in pizza. He wasn't there for the food. He was there for the connection with the people.

And sometimes we miss the better things because we're so caught up with lesser things. I'm not saying don't clean your house. Don't get me wrong. I'm saying sometimes there's something more pressing, more important, more valuable in the moment. Don't miss it to make yourself get all caught up in lesser things. That's what Jesus is saying to Martha here. Don't miss this opportunity. How many opportunities were they going to have to sit and talk with Jesus? That doesn't come along every day. Martha didn't recognize. She didn't capture in her mind the value and the importance of the opportunity she had right in front of her in her house that day.

Sometimes when we have friends over, our kids or grandkids are there in the house with us and we're so caught up in so many other things, we don't recognize the value of that time we have with them. We miss it. The opportunity to be in fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ on a Sunday service. We don't recognize the value of that. We miss it for other things. Not even necessarily bad things, just other things that aren't nearly as important and valuable as that thing.

So refocus on what matters most, reduce the non-essentials, then reprioritize your life based on that. Why is it important for you to stop and reprioritize your life? I'll tell you why, a couple of reasons. First, if you don't, other people will. They'll do it for you. It may not be what you would have decided, it may not be what you think is most important, but they have their own idea of who you ought to be, what you ought to be like, and what you ought to be doing with your time. And they'll gladly direct you the way they want you to go. They will gladly lead you down the path they want you to go down.

I love what 1 Corinthians 7:23 says. It says this: "You are bought at a price. Do not become slaves of what? Human beings." Christ purchased you with His blood. You belong to Him. Your top concern should not be, "What do other people think of me? What are they going to think if I do this or don't do that? If I wear this or don't wear that, what are they going to think if I go to that event or don't go to that event?" Quit worrying about what other people think more than you care about what God thinks about your life. Friends, Jesus loves you. He sacrificed everything for you. You know how He feels about you, and He promised to never leave you or forsake you. He's the one that matters most, and your relationship with Him should come above what anybody else thinks about your life. His opinion matters more than anybody else's opinion. Don't give other people the power to make you decide to do life the way they think you should do life. And Jesus is the one who should have that place in your heart, in your mind, in your life. Not other people.

Well, there's another good reason to reprioritize your life. Not just that if you don't, others will, but ordering these things by priority will determine your capacity for things. Order determines capacity. It's a principle that's been there in business, it's been there in all of life forever.

I did an illustration many years ago. Many of you have probably seen it. I saw other speakers do this illustration where they had this jar and they were putting the rocks in the jar. And they had some big rocks and they had some medium-sized rocks and then they had some little gravel and sand. And they started out first with putting the little things in there first and then they couldn't get the big rocks in at the end. Well, the big rocks represent the things that really are the most important things. So if you want to make sure you get the big, most important things done, what needs to be put first in your schedule? The big things. The big rocks. The things that matter the most. You put those things first.

Order determines capacity. We already talked about some things that are priorities for us: relationships, purpose, eternity. All right, those are the big rocks. Put those into your schedule first. Make sure that everything else has to fit those things. They have to work around those things. Because if you don't get them in there, then all the other stuff will take up that space and you'll miss the big things. They won't get done. They won't be there. They won't be the priority that you thought you wanted them to be anymore because everything else is taking up that space where the big things belong.

So what are the big things for you? What are the important things? What are the priorities for you? You have to decide to order your own priorities because if you don't, others will, and order will determine your capacity to do the things that you say are most important to you. If you say family is really important to you, then you can't fill your life with things that are going to rob you from your family. Those other things became the priority when you put them ahead of your family.

You say you're married. You're committed to your marriage as a high priority. Then don't let yourself get involved with things that aren't going to reinforce and build and strengthen your marriage. If you say that's a priority, you have to put those things in your life first. Make those a higher priority. If you say your love for God and your commitment to Jesus is the highest priority of your life, then you got to get that in there first. Because if you don't, Satan will make sure there are plenty of other things to take up that space in your life.

I hear people say all the time, "Well, I wish I had more time for prayer. I wish I had more time for devotion." Stop wishing and start reprioritizing your life. They won't happen by wishing. You're the only one that can change it. You're the only one that can reorder the priorities. You're the only one that can make the decisions to make it happen where there is time for devotion. There is time for prayer. There is time in the word. There is time for worshipping together with the family of God on the weekends. You've made space for that in your life. You haven't let other things fill that space.

Anybody can fill that space with other things and then say, "I don't have time for that. I just can't get it done." But anyone can decide, "I'm not going to do that that way anymore. I'm going to reprioritize my life. I'm going to shift the order of priorities. I'm going to put the big rocks in first." Jesus taught about this principle in Matthew 6, beginning with verse 31, in that sermon on the mount. He said this: "Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them."

All right, so he's told us what not to do, but Jesus doesn't ever stop just telling us what not to do. Then he says, "Here's the way it needs to work," verse 33: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be given to you as well." What's he saying? Reorder your priorities. What needs to be the big rock you put in first? Seek first what? His kingdom. His righteousness. Fill everything else in around that.

All right, put the big rocks in first, and the biggest of all is seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness in your life. If you put that in your life first as the highest priority of your life, I get it, it doesn't mean there won't be any problems, there won't be any strain, there won't be any stress. I love it when doctors say, "You know, you got to get rid of the stress in your life." It's impossible to get rid of all stress, and not all stress is bad. Sometimes stress pushes you to where you need to go, right? When you're feeling the stress, it's a sign that something needs to change.

When you're feeling the stress, the way the scripture teaches us, the way Jesus teaches us is when you're feeling the stress, you have to reprioritize. Get the big rocks back in there first. The most important things back to the place they belong as the higher priorities of your life. Then as you have space and opportunity, fill in those other things that are still good things, they're okay things. It's not evil for you to have them in your life as long as they're not rooting out the higher priorities of your life.

Jesus is not trying to keep you from having fun in life, playing games, watching TV or a movie, spending some time on social media. He's not saying you can't do anything about that and be a Christian. That's not what the scripture teaches. But what it does teach is that the danger with even the good things and the neutral things is they take up the space where Jesus sought to be in your life if you let them.

And we don't grow like we should, we don't mature like we should, we don't have the strength we need as a Christ follower to stand up against the temptations and the struggles that we face as we're trying to follow Jesus. Because we let other things fill the space in our lives where Jesus should have been all along. Let's make sure we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. And He promises then everything else will fall into place. It'll be taken care of like it needs to be when we get that one right.

Why don't we close with this last one? It's obvious that we need to reprioritize our lives. But here's the next thing, the final thing. Here's the one. It's simple but it's not easy. Start when? Now.

Now let's say, "Well, that sounds good. I'm going to do that." A lot of people leave church thinking, "Man, that was a great message. I really enjoyed that. And man, I know I need to do those things." But what do we get right back to? Life scheduled the way it always has been. We fall right back into the habits and the schedule and the activities that were already there. And when we fall right back into that, what changes? Nothing. Except it might get worse over time. That's the only thing that changes.

So we have to make a decision to start when? Now. The sooner you start, the sooner you will begin to experience the benefits that come with reprioritizing your life. The longer you delay, hear me please. The longer you delay, the harder it is to get back to it and get it done. That's true with almost anything that's hard to do. It's the longer you put it off, the harder it gets to get back to it and get it done. Whatever it is, the longer you put it off.

I can't tell you how many times I dreaded doing something and I kept putting it off and I kept putting it off. And when I finally did it, I felt such a relief. And I say to myself, like maybe you do, "Why didn't I just do that two weeks ago?" Right? Haven't you ever felt that? Tell me about the only one, please. Yeah. Man, why don't I just do it now? If I know it's the right thing and it needs to be done and it would help my life, why don't I just go ahead and start now?

There's some really good reasons to start now. One is the benefits you're going to feel immediately when you start doing it a different way. But the other is how much time do you know you have? All you know you have is what? Now, that's all you know you have. So if it's really important, if it's really a priority and you know you want to do this, when's the best time to start? Right now.

In Matthew 11, beginning with verse 28, Jesus is teaching His disciples an important principle about a misunderstanding most people have about what it means to follow Jesus. This misunderstanding comes from a lot of sources. For Jesus' day, a lot of it came from the legalism of the Jewish leaders of their day. They had made being a godly person nothing but a list of rules and regulations and do's and don'ts, and it was just becoming a burden to try to do anymore because nobody could live up to it. Not only did they have the law of God, they added hundreds of their own laws to fully explain and give details to what God's law really meant and how people needed to follow all that, and people were burdened by it.

Do you remember when Jesus' disciples were criticized? They got Jesus off to the side and they said, "We saw your disciples, they were cleaning some things out of the field on the Sabbath day. They shouldn't be doing that on the Sabbath day." You know when they had this law where if they had a field of crops, they would leave the outside edge of the field open for people that were needy to be able to get some food if they needed it, and the disciples were traveling from one place to another and they were getting some food, cleaning some food out of the field. They said, "They shouldn't be doing that on the Sabbath." You know what Jesus said? "Man, you've got to miss Sabbath all misunderstood. It's supposed to be a benefit to man, not a burden to man. The Sabbath was made to bless man, not to cause more of a problem for you."

People misunderstand that what it means to be a Christ follower is not more stuff to do in your schedule. That's not what it means. "I just got to start doing this and start doing that if I'm going to be a Christian and I can't fit it in. I can't do any more than I'm doing right now." That's not what it means to follow Jesus. It means let go of everything and re-prioritize and start fresh, but this time do it a better way where you do have rest and fulfillment and joy even in the midst of the challenges and the struggles.

See, Jesus doesn't want to burden your life. He wants to bless your life. He wants to make it better, not harder. He wants it to be simplified down to the things that matter the most as the highest priority. See, when you do that, there's greater peace, there's greater joy, there's more really opportunity to be at rest in life when you do it that way.

Listen to Jesus' words from Matthew 11, beginning with verse 28: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened." Can you relate to the weary and burdened part? We fill our lives with all this stuff and it wearies us and it burdens us. It takes away the joy, it takes away the peace. We're there but we're not really there. We're present but we're not really present with our families, our friends. Church seems like another burden on the schedule. They expect me to be at church and then they say we're all to serve. The last message in this series is going to be about simplifying church life too. We're going to talk more about that, but He doesn't want it to be a burden. He wants it to be a blessing to follow Him.

Listen to the rest: "Come to me," He's inviting us to come, "all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you a list of things to do." Is that what He said? Oh no, He said, "I'll give you a list of things to stop doing." Is that what He said? No, what does He say He's going to give us when we come to Him? Rest. Oh, it doesn't sound nice. "Come to me. If you're weary and you're burdened, and I will give you what? Rest, rest."

How many of you could use some rest right now? You started out this new year full speed, man. You made all these commitments and resolutions of how you would change your life and do all this stuff that you weren't doing before, and you just added more to your busyness that you already had, and there's no rest. We live in a culture that is so counter to the clear teaching of Jesus. The clear teaching of God's word even tells us clearly, "Be still and know that I am God." Be what? Boy, we don't like to be still very long. We see that as a negative. We see that as, "What did I miss?" Right? If I have a little downtime and I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing, it's like I better get and look at my calendar on my laptop because I must have missed something if I have some free time here. It's like it's not supposed to be there.

But Jesus says, "Come unto me, all you that are weary and burdened, and I will give you what? Rest, man." It doesn't mean there's nothing to do. It means there's a place where you can actually experience rest, peace, contentment. I don't have to feel pressured all the time. He says in verse 29, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find, here it is again, you'll find what? Rest for your soul." Rest. That's the best rest of all. When things are right here, when things are where they need to be in here, when your life is where it needs to be from the inside out, that's when you can really enjoy rest. Rest, rest in your soul. Your soul is you. It's who you really are. It's not all the outward trappings and the appearances and the stuff. It's really you. He wants to give you rest for your soul. That's the sweetest rest of all. It's rest for your soul.

How do we find that rest? He says, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." He says, "You know how you get this rest? You know where you go for it? He says, 'Yoke up with me.' That's where you're going to find this life. That's when you live at yoke up with me."

I know we've got a whole generation here that has never seen a yoke, probably. And that's okay. You can Google it. Thanks to our great technology today, you can see what a yoke is. A yoke was most often used to have animals hooked up to each other to pull together to get something done, right? And they have a purpose. You yoke up the animals. Usually, it was to do something like plow a field or harvest a crop or something like that, right?

Now here's the thing. You could have one animal hooked up without a yoke to any other animals and you could just ride them and use them and wear them down until they die. Or you could do something better for the animal. What would be better for that animal? Yoke it up to another one because what happens? Both animals have a lighter load that way. Both animals are able to accomplish more that way when they're yoked up together. Who better to be yoked up with than the creator, sustainer, redeemer of life? To get yoked up with Him is the first step in finding rest for your souls.

Because without that yoking with Jesus, our souls will never be at rest, will be at odds with God, will be at odds with each other. Life will be more and more of a burden. But if we yoke up with Jesus, He takes on His shoulders those things that we can't bear up ourselves. He takes upon Himself our sin, our faults, our failures, our shortcomings. He takes that on Himself. He bears the weight of those things so that yoked up with Him, our load is made lighter by being yoked up in Jesus.

Maybe there's someone today who needs to take that step. I've been yoked with Him. He says, "For my yoke is easy. My burden is light." Maybe today you're ready to find rest for your souls.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you that in Christ we find that the news is simple, but it's not easy. We have to get our pride out of the way. We've got to get our own stubbornness out of the way. We've got to be willing to humble ourselves, get still, and make that decision. It could be made even today. So stop trying to do this on our own, on our own strength, on our own power, in our own way, or the way the world's telling us to do it. Instead, to yoke up today with Jesus. To let Him lead and direct and guide and provide, and take that burden off of us.

I pray for those hearts and those minds that are struggling today with the stress and the difficulties that they're facing. I pray that they would see Jesus as the one, as the answer. As the one who loves them so much that He gave everything for them. The one to whom they need to be yoked right now. I pray that your spirit and your word would prompt them to take those steps even today. In Jesus' name, amen.

If you're here today and you're ready to take that step of yoking up with Jesus, He gives us the plan for that in Scripture. You profess your faith in Him, repenting of your sin, and you're baptized into Christ. You're yoked up with Him moving forward. You make that the priority of your life. Let's stand and sing. We invite you to come while we're singing.

1) "Relationships matter as Christ's followers. What happens is when we fill our schedules too much, what gets left out a lot of times. Working on those relationships, keeping them strong, keeping them healthy." [32:18] (Download)

2) "Paul talked about it in Acts 20 and verse 24. He said this. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task, the purpose, the Lord Jesus has given me." [33:08] (Download)

3) "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again. And then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." [36:38] (Download)

4) "James says that this way, in James 121, he says, therefore, here's what you need to do, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." [38:42] (Download)

5) "Order determines capacity. It's the principle that's been there and business has been there in all of life forever. If you want to make sure you get the big, most important things done, what needs to be put first in your schedule? The big things." [51:43] (Download)

6) "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these other things will be given to you as well. What's he saying? Reorder your priorities. What needs to be the big rock you put in first?" [54:48] (Download)

7) "The sooner you start, the sooner you will begin to experience the benefits that come with reprioritizing your life. The longer you delay, the harder it is to get back to it and get it done." [58:05] (Download)

8) "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Maybe today you're ready to find rest for your souls. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that in Christ we find that the news is simple, but it's not easy." [01:08:33] (Download)