A People Who Change - Transformation and the Enemy of Hurry [Ryan Ashley]

Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 4:16-21, Isaiah 61:2-3

“In this truth lies the secret of the easy yoke: the secret involves living as (Jesus) lived in the entirety of his life – adopting his overall life-style… Our mistake is to think that following Jesus consists in loving our enemies, going the second mile, turning the other cheek, suffering patiently and hopefully – while living the rest of our lives just as everyone else around us does… it’s a strategy bound to fail.”

Dallas Willard

 “A yoke is a work instrument. Thus when Jesus offers a yoke he offers what we might think tired workers need least. They need a mattress or a vacation, not a yoke. But Jesus realizes that the most restful gift he can give the tired is a new way to carry life, a fresh way to bear responsibilities… Realism sees that life is a succession of burdens; we cannot get away from them; thus instead of offering escape, Jesus offers equipment. Jesus means that that obedience to his Sermon on the Mount (his yoke) will develop us in balance and a ‘way’ of carrying life that will give more rest than the way we have been living.”

Fredrick Dale Brunner

“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

Dallas Willard

“Hurry isn’t of the devil it is the devil!”

Carl Jung

“It may be the case 10 Christians are assimilating a culture of busyness, hurry and overload, which leads to 2) God becoming more marginalized in Christians’ lives, which leads to 3) a deteriorating relationship with God, which leads to 4) Christians becoming even more vulnerable to adopting secular assumptions about how to live, which leads to 5) more conformity to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload. And then the cycle begins again.”

Michael Zigarelli

“Addiction is the relentless pull to a substance or an activity that becomes so compulsive it ultimately interferes with everyday life.”