"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." (Mt. 11:28-30)

It is indeed difficult to make a clean break with sin; to make a break with sin that we may have grown accustomed to make life bearable through pleasure. But at the same time, this "pleasure" causes a genuine moral torture, because living out this immoral conduct, frequently, costs so much: morally, spiritually, mentally... and even physically. The psychological price is incalculable, for sin causes tremendous internal stress -- especially stress in the conscience. This stress rears its ugly head in the form of the "isms" of alcoholism, drug addiction, and a host of other addictive -- mood altering substances (food, drink, drug....) or behaviors (more sin, sex, collecting, buying, obsessing....). The whole thing is a sad and cyclical problem for us -- sin actually causes us to sin even more!

Jesus calls us to Himself, offering us His "yoke" -- His love... the only thing on this earth that can possibly give us true happiness. The price of worldly pleasure is oftentimes very high and very empty... it is a figurative and literal suicide.

God made the human heart for happiness... but in looking for it, without God, we make a fatal mistake... we take the wrong road and in the wrong direction.

Psalm 18: "The lowly people you save but haughty eyes you bring low; You indeed, O LORD, give light to my lamp, you brighten the darkness about me."