Not forced labour!

Ezekiel 36:26-27 NLT

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

Jeremiah 31:33 AMPC

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put My law within them, and on their hearts will I write it; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

Following Jesus isn't some forced labour - obeying Him grudgingly, through gritted legalised teeth!

The promise from the Old Testament is that God's laws will be written, indeibly on our hearts.

We'll obey gladly because we love Jesus. We won't want to hurt Him.

On the way to the Cross, Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry Jesus' Cross, he didn't do it voluntarily. I'm sure he was relieved to put it down, as soon as he was allowed to do so.

The obedience Jesus is looking for is one that volunteers, out of devotion to Him:

Luke 9:23 NLT

Then He said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.

Jesus wants to write this attitude deep in our hearts on a daily basis.

Because, our selfishness tries to scribble it out, it's a daily decision to lovingly follow Jesus.

May the Holy Spirit engrave this deep in my heart.