Rick Warren's Daily DevotionalSample

Focus on Doing God's Will Some of you are carrying a yoke -- a heavy burden -- of the expectations that were put on you by your parents, or your husband, or your wife, or your children. Some of you are burdened down with a yoke put on you by your boss or by your teacher. But most of us carry a yoke of burden that we've put on ourselves because of unresolved guilt and unrealistic expectations. We're trying to prove that we matter. We take on a heavy yoke that God never intended in order to prove that we're important when God says we're already important. God's yoke is that we follow his purpose for our lives, and when we do that, things work out a whole lot better. When we go our own way in life, we hit one brick wall after another. In a sense, God says, "Put on my purpose, my plan for your life." How heavy is God's yoke? Jesus says, "The yoke I will give you is light and easy." You say, "But my Christian life isn't easy. My Christian life is heavy; it's like a duty that I have to fulfill." Then it may be you are out of God's will. You may be doing something that God never intended for you to do. Jesus did not come to give you a burden but a blessing.