“Work smarter, not harder.”  Perhaps you’ve been given that advice by someone. Usually, people say it as a way to say ‘don’t work so hard, find an easier way.’  Many of us push ourselves to do more with our waking hours; we add activities to our already crowded schedules and we amp up the pressure on ourselves to do everything which comes our way.  Usually, it’s because there’s a lot we want to do, but Jesus invites us to question what’s really important to our identity: is it work we do to build up ourselves, or work we do to let go of ourselves?

Working smarter, not harder, as Jesus intends isn’t about taking on more and more to prove our competence or ability; it’s about letting go of more and more to find that what we really need, what really gives our life meaning, purpose, and value, isn’t in what we do, it’s in what we share and give away.  If we can learn how to say ‘no’ to the things we think we want then we’ll find we already have what we need, and we’ll find a freedom and peace which comes from ceasing to push ourselves so much or struggle to achieve and accomplish for our own gratification.

Discipleship, following Jesus, is about priorities, and assessing what’s really important can take honesty and courage.  May this week be a time for you to spend some time asking yourself what’s really important in your life, what’s going to keep you going for the long-haul, and what feeds you, not what exhausts you.  And may you find in your answer the awareness that it takes a community of support, friends who share that same journey, who can remind you when the work gets weary and our attention and energy fail.  Whatever comes your way this week, may you hear the call of God who calls all who are heavy laden to rest in God.

–Thomas