Much to Do (Friday Devotional)

 

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

- Matthew 11:28-30

Every morning, sometime between my second cup of coffee and my morning run, I pull up the day’s to-do list to see what I need to learn, accomplish, and otherwise take care of. I’m somebody who likes checking items off a list, so my to-do list is pretty comprehensive: things I need to read, phone calls I need to make, even household chores I need to handle. And because my to-do list spans so many different areas, it’s long, never shorter than a dozen things per day. On particularly busy days, I’ll have as many as 25 boxes to check off.

Because the list is so all-encompassing, it leaves me feeling one of two ways by the end of each day. On particularly productive days, when I’m firing on all cylinders and knocking out tasks left and right, the list gives me direction. As I whittle my way through task after task, I feel more and more accomplished, more and more empowered to move on to the next job. Reaching the end of the list, I’m able to pat myself on the back and truly feel that I made good use of my day.

But if I’m honest, more often than not my to-do list brings me more discouragement than direction. When I see my 15-20 tasks each morning, I find myself overwhelmed, not sure where to even start. When I get to lunch and I’m not halfway through the list, I worry that I’m using my time poorly. When I reach the end of the day and there are still 4 or 5 unaccomplished tasks, the day feels like a waste and I feel like a disappointment.

In our task-oriented culture, where productivity is king and efficiency is queen, what you do can feel all-important. Your work and your worth can be so intermingled that they start to feel like one and the same. If you don’t get the job done, it doesn’t just mean you’ve failed, it means you’re a failure.

That’s a heavy burden to carry—and it’s one that Jesus invites us to slough off. He challenges you to find your worth not in what you build or buy, not in what you accomplish or invent, but in him. Instead of trying to achieve value, you can find value in the glorious knowledge that, through faith in Christ, you are a child of God.

No matter how many tasks you accomplish, no matter how hard you work, no matter how heavily you weigh yourself down with responsibilities, doubts and fears will continue to convince you you’re not doing enough. Better then to find rest in Jesus, to trust him instead of yourself. It’s an easier yoke, a lighter burden, and a glorious hope. Your to-do list, after all, is just a list—Jesus is your Lord.