The Easy Life 

   I am totally convinced that the easy life is one of the biggest causes of the problems we face in our society today.  Nothing that comes easily has lasting value.  What is truly worthwhile will always require effort and even hardship.

   The easy life says we shouldn’t have to work hard to succeed.  We look at hard work as punishment rather than the honest effort to better oneself.  Consequently, our work ethic, that willingness to work as hard as needed to succeed, has essentially disappeared.

   Gone are the days of taking a job, any job, in order to get work experience and the opportunity to move up.  We expect our first job to be well-paying with a bright future and if we don’t get it we might just as well sit at home and depend on the government to provide for our needs.  The sense of well-being that comes from working one’s way up the ladder through hard work and effort is rarely seen.

   More importantly, our spiritual life is also affected by this attitude.  Spending time in prayer and contemplation takes time and effort that many refuse to offer to our Lord.  Church on Sunday morning is the best they can muster and even that is often seen as a chore and a distraction from the fun-filled plans for the day.  Respecting and honoring the Sabbath, keeping it holy, is just too hard it seems.

   What comes easily often disappears just as easily.  What comes from God through the sometimes hard work and difficulties of Christianity is eternal.