//easy//

It's probably a trait that most people have, wanting everything to come easily. I definitely see it in my own life. Turning on the tv is a lot easier than working out, opening a bag of potato chips is a lot easier than cutting up fresh vegetables, looking at Pinterest is a lot easier than doing homework, and reading a fashion blog is a lot easier than reading the Bible. All the tasks that take a little more effort are beneficial to my life, but I want fast, easy, thoughtless, and painless. I want comfortable and entertaining.

I just recently started working out. After a month of consistent exercise I feel so much better than I had previously. There have been many times in my life where I would start exercise and then stop after about a week because I didn't see results and it wasn't fun. But I have realized that it actually isn't as hard or time consuming as I though it would be. It was mostly in my head.

 I do the same thing when it comes to reading my Bible. I read it every night, but I don't study it intentionally because that takes a lot more time and effort. I want it easy. But I can feel the distance when I haven't been reading and praying deeply. And I know the benefits that come from spending a lot of time in the Word. So why don't I do it?

One reason is that I don't like to always think deeply about things. The more time I spend on frivolous, mindless activities, such as, browsing the internet or watching tv, the harder it is for me to put time into something that takes a lot of deep thought and time. Thinking deeply about life brings up stuff that I don't always want to deal with. It shows me my struggles and sins that I need to change and requires me to put effort into changing them, and that is the opposite of easy.

This Sunday's second-hour sermon was about looking deeply at sin and how it manifests in our lives; that takes time and it is very hard to deal with because it requires change. And if that isn't hard enough, we not only need to do this to ourselves, but ask others to tell us the specific ways that we sin because we don't always (if ever) view ourselves clearly. But we are called to do hard things, and these hard things build character and Christ-likeness.