The relationship between work and rest is an interesting one. Many work so hard that it drives them into the ground. Others suffer from too little “work” and too much rest, driving them to boredom and loneliness.

Wherever you are on that continuum, striking a happy medium isn’t always easy. When we’re young and working hard, satisfying though that may be, we’re hoping that at some point, it’s going to get easier. We long for a comfortable existence without too much effort.

Eventually, trying to do the right thing when everyone else seems to be doing the complete opposite – well, it’s exhausting. Better just to coast along and hope for the best. It’s working for everyone else.

The easy life is so alluring, isn’t it? Legendary 1970’s rock band ACDC had a hit back in the day with their infectious rock song, “Highway to Hell”. In part, the lyrics go like this:

No stop signs, speed limit. Nobody’s gonna slow me down.
Like a wheel, gonna spin it. I’m on the highway to hell. Highway to hell.

So many people have rocked along to that tune with such fervour.

A few years earlier, author and theologian C.S. Lewis put it like this: The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

And a couple of thousand years before that, Jesus put it like this:

Matthew 7:13 You can enter true life only through the narrow gate. The gate to hell is very wide, and there is plenty of room on the road that leads there. Many people go that way.

Don’t be fooled. The easy road inevitably turns out to be the highway to hell.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.