Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Matthew 11:28 (AMPC)
Religion will burn you out. It teaches that you have to earn your way to God. As a result, you never feel like you’re good enough, so you become buried under a heavy load of guilt and condemnation.
If you believe you have to earn your way to God, you aren’t living life to the fullest. Because this belief causes you to live in fear of judgment and punishment, you can’t enjoy the life Jesus died to give you.
When you mess up in life, you try harder because you think you need to make up for your faults and flaws, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus already made up for them over 2000 years ago, so that you could be empowered to build a great life and be free to enjoy a close, intimate relationship with God.
Jesus didn’t say, “Work harder and be better. Then you’ll earn a good life and you’ll go to Heaven when you die.” In John 10:10, He said, “I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)”. In Matthew 11:28 He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Religion would say that you obey the laws in order to have a relationship with God. But Jesus would say that having the relationship is what empowers you to obey the principles in God’s Word. Religion has it backwards.
You see, the key to this Christian life isn’t more effort. The key lies in realizing what Jesus has already done.