Following Jesus

Tag: faithfulness

  • Take my yoke. . .

    Take my yoke. . .

    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.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

    Observation (what do I see?)

    • Jesus invites all to come to him.
    • “Come,” “take” and “let” are all commands.
    • People must choose to come to Jesus as Savior and take his yoke of discipleship because he is God.
    • The reason to come to Jesus and take his yoke is because he is a humble and gentle master.
    • The fruit of this process of discipleship is that he gives internal rest to those who seek him.
    • Jesus describes his yoke as “easy.”
      • The word easy is in Greek chrēstos, which can mean well-fitting. In Palestine ox-yokes were made of wood; the ox was brought, and the measurements were taken. The yoke was then roughed out, and the ox was brought back to have the yoke tried on. The yoke was carefully adjusted, so that it would fit well, and not gall the neck of the patient beast. The yoke was tailor-made to fit the ox.“ There is a legend that Jesus made the best ox-yokes in all Galilee, and that from all over the country men came to him to buy the best yokes that skill could make. In those days, as now, shops had their signs above the door; and it has been suggested that the sign above the door of the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth may well have been: “My yokes fit well.” It may well be that Jesus is here using a picture from the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth where he had worked throughout the silent years. Jesus says, “My yoke fits well.” What he means is: “The life I give you is not a burden to gall you; your task is made to measure to fit you.”1
    • The yoke of Jesus is tailor-made for each person!

    Application (what must I do?)

    • The invitation to come to Jesus is a call for me to believe in him personally not to just acknowledge facts about him
    • Once I believe in Jesus, I need to take his perfectly fitting yoke upon me and learn from him. This is stressing the need for my submission and obedience. I must place myself under his authority, accept his teaching and live it out in all of my life.
    • His yoke is tailor-made for me not to produce sores but to allow me to live as he designed.
    • As I live under his leadership, I will find rest for my soul in the midst or life’s demands as I follow him.

    Prayer (talk to God about it)

    • Father, thank you for being a humble and gentle master. Thank you for designing your yoke to fit me. You know my strengths and weaknesses. I choose today to renew my desire to yield to your authority over my life. I look forward to learning from you and becoming the disciple you designed me to be.

    1 William Barclay, ed., The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 2, The Daily Study Bible (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), 17–18.

  • Suffering or Freedom

    Suffering or Freedom

    Uriah and Jeremiah faced very different results for their obedience…

    Scripture

    “At this time Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim was also prophesying for the LORD. And he predicted the same terrible disaster against the city and nation as Jeremiah did. . . . The king then killed Uriah with a sword and had him buried in an unmarked grave. Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan stood up for Jeremiah and persuaded the court not to turn him over to the mob to be killed.” (Jer. 26:20–24)

    Observation (speak out)

    • This is an amazing story of two faithful prophets who proclaimed the same message of judgement against Judah for their sin as directed by the LORD.
    • Even though they proclaimed the same message, one was martyred and the other was set free,
    • Although we know a lot about Jeremiah, we know nothing about Uriah except his hometown.
    • Why did Uriah die because of his obedience and Jeremiah lived on because of his obedience?
    • It doesn’t seem fair to me although nothing is said about this concern in the text.

    Application (speak in)

    • It is easy for me to ask why some people who are faithful followers of God seem to experience more difficulty than others.
    • When I get lost in this dilemma, or feel sorry for myself, I need to regain my perspective and focus on what Uriah and Jeremiah had in common. They both faithfully followed and obeyed God.
    • Their obedience was not based on their circumstances or what would be the outcome of their obedience. They simply obeyed God regardless of what that meant for them and they trusted God to accomplish his will.
    • I need to remember that a life well lived is not a life lived without difficulty or problems. Rather, it is a life of obedience and faithfulness out of love for God regardless of how that impacts my circumstances.
    • This is easy to say but hard to live.

    Prayer (rejoice, repent, request)

    Father, thank you for being a wise, kind, loving and all-powerful God who always does what is best even when I do not understand. Help me to yield to your leadership and loving and willingly follow you.