They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Matthew 23:4
I got Jesus’ “Woe to you” narrative stuck in my head and heart a few years ago. I was doing a Lent Bible reading study and realized He gave this intense call to repentance to the Pharisees and Sadducees just a few days before His crucifixion.
This verse, in particular, verse four, has lived paraphrased in my heart as a warning:
Don’t put burdens on people you do not intend to help them carry.
How often do we make the gospel a burden to carry instead of a joy to receive? How frequently do we get stuck in cycles of spiritual exhaustion, making assumptions about what we have to do for God instead of focusing on what we get to do? How often do we forget that we’re children, brought into the kingdom by grace through faith? Is this the Good News we celebrate during this holy and beautiful week?
Many of us have overcomplicated receiving the gospel and walking with Jesus, but there’s no “sophisticated” way to act like a child. Woe to us if we add extra work to the Good News of Jesus.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6
Maybe none of us are actual Pharisees and Sadducees, but Tuesday of Holy Week feels like a great time to check our hearts: are we making this week about what we can do? Or about what God has done?
If your walk with God feels more like something you should do and less like something you get to do - you might be spiritually tired. If so,
Tired of Being Tired has some practical steps for you.
Also, this week’s episode of The Jess Connolly podcast might also bless you. 
