When our Lord invites us to follow Him, it is with an open
invitation, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 8.34) With this invitation Jesus isn’t
forcing us to follow Him to the Cross, but simply inviting us to be a part of
His loving Kingdom. The choice to follow Him is ours to make, freely.
If we think of the gifts we have offered our family and
friends, it is when we desire to give the gift that it feels the most
rewarding. If we feel obligated and forced to present our gift, then it doesn’t
come with love and we typically experience feelings of resentment.
I encourage you to consider the invitation by
Christ to follow Him as an open invitation of love and mercy. God will never
force us to love Him, but when we do love Him, our offering to His Church and
our brothers and sisters on the Earth seems like a natural outpouring of our
love and that is never a burden.
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