COME/TAKE/TEACH/REST
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
For all the perfect people in the world who live with no stress and problems this passage is not for you. You can take a break today and reflect on how perfect your world is.
For those of us who are not living in denial and admit that we have stress, this is God’s formula for how to handle the fears, problems, and difficulties of life. I believe there may not be more problems in our world today than ever but the truth is that those problems are a lot louder thanks to the mass media that seems to thrive on pointing out all the things we should be worried about.
There are some key words in the passage that make it all work: come, take, teach, and rest.
It begins when we come to Jesus. Whatever the hurt, hang-up, habit, disappointment, disease, disaster, set-back, or brokenness we are to come to Jesus. The solution to every problem starts with an encounter with Jesus. Yet, the enemy tries to convince us to hide from Jesus because we aren’t perfect. But Jesus says, “Come to me.”
The second step is taking His yoke. The yoke is a wooden tool used to connect two cows or oxen together. When built right it will ensure that each animal pulls equally on the load and thus makes the load easier to pull. Jesus is inviting us to be yoked with Him. He is interested in helping pull us through life. Instead of trying to handle every problem by ourselves—which causes huge stress—we are invited to share the load with Jesus.When we are yoked with Jesus, we know we are going the right direction and at the right pace. Pause. That is worth thinking about. If I am yoked with Jesus, I can’t be on the wrong path or have the wrong pace. If I’m headed in the wrong direction or living at a ridiculous pace, then I’ve somehow gotten unyoked from Jesus.
When we are yoked with Jesus, He will teach us. We must learn from Him. Jesus is “humble and gentle at heart.” People with pride, arrogance, and anger issues struggle with learning from Jesus. They are convinced they know it all so why submit to His authority. Once we allow humility to replace pride there is a wealth of wisdom available to us.
Once we come to Jesus, take on His yoke, and begin to learn from Him we discover a new level of rest. The peace of God that passes all understanding begins to live in our hearts and minds. We begin to discover the incredible gift of having a partner pulling with us. We rest in the strength of our partner.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit please help me to always come to Jesus. Help me to wear His yoke. Help me to listen to His teaching. Help me to release Your peace and rest into my life. In Jesus name I rebuke any spirit of anxiety, fear, discouragement, or depression that would attempt to infiltrate my being. I am yoked with Jesus. I have rest for my soul.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”