Draw
a circle at the middle of a piece of paper.
That represents you and a precious gift God has given to you—your agency
or free will. Now draw a sun at the
upper right corner and some rain clouds at the lower left corner. The sun represents true happiness and
freedom. The clouds represent bondage,
outside discipline, and unhappiness. Now
draw an arrow from you up to the sun and another arrow from you to the rain
clouds.
This
is how we began a recent Family Night at our house. Our kids were fixated on the brownies we were
going to make afterward, but gradually, through the use of questions and the
assurance that they would be able to lick the spoon and brownies bowl
afterwards, they became more and more interested in the following ideas.
The two paths
We
are free to choose two paths. The path
of discipline and responsibility leads to true happiness and freedom. Once we
see that, our attitude about that path can become positive and even joyful. The other path leads to outside discipline and/or
a form of bondage or addiction to drugs, habits, or negative emotions. The outside discipline becomes necessary when
we don’t develop inner discipline. I
gave my kids an example: “That’s like Mom sending you to your room until you
can find the inner discipline to be as sweet as a frosted brownie.”
God
influences and encourages us in many ways to be responsible, but we sometimes
give in to tendencies and temptations that take us the wrong direction, that
take us away from God and true happiness.
“Now,” I said to my children, “I’d like to ask you a key question: which
is the easy path?”
The paradox
Which
path is the easy one? My kids were
certain they knew. Obviously, the lazy
path is the easy path. My wife
responded, “Well, it is the easy path…at first.
Eventually, it becomes the hard path.”
Yes, the easy path is the hard path—that’s the paradox. The responsible path ends up being an easier
road.
Jesus
said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Does that mean following Jesus is easier than
sitting on your buttinski eating brownies?
I think it means that He helps us bear up under our responsibilities
through his grace. It also means that when we find ourselves going the wrong
direction, we can turn around and move forward.
That’s repentance.
A prisoner repents
We
have a friend who currently resides in a state penitentiary. He did something that was wrong and lost most
of his freedom for awhile. He’ll tell
you that it’s hard being a prisoner.
Fortunately, one reason Jesus came to earth was to set the prisoners
free. We can repent of non-productive
choices and get on the right path, the path of happiness and freedom.
Here
are the words of my friend, the prisoner: “I have no problem now working hard. I
believe in doing what I can, with what I have, where I am at. I have learned that we cannot solve our
problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” That’s his attitude now. He wants to work and be responsible because he
knows it will make him so much happier. Now
listen to him describe the attitude that created his problems and led him down
the wrong path:
“I
used to be a slacker. I could not keep a
job because I would not show up on time or perform poorly on purpose. Now I see that even a tiny job in prison is
something to appreciate.” It seems
evident that the lazy or irresponsible path can become the hard path.
At
this point in our family discussion, one of my children said, “When I am honest
and do my chores, it feels like the sun is shining inside me.” I couldn’t think of a better conclusion, so I
said, “Let’s have a prayer, make some brownies, and keep living.
Note: The quote
from the prisoner is by permission. “The
Statue of Responsibility” is a related blog entry and the first entry on this
blog.
