I love this time of year. As Major League Baseball’s spring training in the United States anticipates the start of the season, each team and fan cherishes hopes of a World Series championship. Former Chicago Cubs player Ernie Banks, expressing his great love for the game, once said: “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame. Let’s play two!”—which came to be considered his signature line.

There are times when we may echo Banks’ joy in our own lives—appreciating moments of career or business success, family happiness, or participation in church services that inspire and bring healing. When we love what we are doing, that is success in itself. But what about times when obligations and tasks related to work, home, or even church seem burdensome? 

We can learn a lesson from a conversation Jesus had with a crowd of people. He was urging them to keep their focus on what really matters. They asked him, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus replied, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:28, 29, italics added). Here we find the answer when we feel that our life duties are too much or too hard: Start with the true work.