Take my yoke...

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

"If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest.  Take the yoke I give you.  Put it on your shoulders and learn from me.  I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest.  This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light."  (CEV)

Some verses of the Bible are more familiar and comforting than others.  I don't mind writing them over and over and hope to memorize them eventually.  They stick to the ribs like comfort food, just when you need it.  I thought maybe writing it from two translations might make it sound a little newer or bring out something I might have missed.

In the CEV Bible there is a footnote explaining yokes:

"A yoke was a symbol of obedience and hard work."

We don't think of any sort of yoke as a "restful" thing!  The hard work part is easy to imagine and of course a yoke requires being tied (obedient) to the one you are yoked to.  So how does being yoked to Jesus give us rest?

Jesus says we will learn from him if we are wearing his yoke.  The hard work and obedience we find in Christ will have a purpose---his purpose, God's purpose.  This should give it more meaning than man-made and man-directed work.  We are already working without Jesus' yoke, already weary and burdened.

The things that give us a sense of weariness and burden are things we are trying to control and handle by ourselves.  We have the stress of relying on ourselves for the mental and spiritual strength necessary to our "work".  

Jesus says he is gentle and humble of heart.  If we are yoked to him, his gentle humble strength will transfer to us.  We have not only just "someone" to share the work, the burden, but the Son of God who has seen and borne every burden possible with humility and grace.  We will be yoked to the One who overcame, the Victor, the Worthy Lamb of God!  Jesus is called both Lion and Lamb---the strength and the humility are both there in One person.  We will always have the sense of being yoked to One who has been there before us and overcome.

Rest for our souls---that is the promise from his yoke.  Our souls share his salvation, his victory, so there is only hope and never despair.  Always expectancy and a future in his yoke, the weariness and burdens left behind in the past.  The obedience and hard work we now carry in his yoke is always shared and guided by him.  As we learn from him, the yoke gets lighter.  We began to share his character.

Thank you, Lord, for your gentle and humble nature that gives us rest for our souls when we take up your yoke.  We know that through obedience and hard work for your purposes we will no longer feel burdened and weary.  Your presence makes all the difference.  amen

Anxiety vs. thankfulness...

  "Thanking Me for trials will feel awkward and contrived at first.  But if you persist, your thankful words, prayed in faith, will eventually make a difference in your heart.  Thankfulness awakens you to My Presence, which overshadows all your problems."----Sarah Young

Philippians 4:6  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  (NIV)

1 Thes. 5:18  "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  (NIV)

When we are anxious and worried we don't feel like giving thanks for our circumstances.  But that is precisely when we should.

When someone tells us to "count your blessings" or make a list of things we are thankful for, we often brush this advice aside with an attitude that says---"Yeah--yeah---I know I have a lot to be thankful for, but that doesn't help me right now in this situation."  It can.

When we turn our thoughts from worry to praise and thanks, we make a much needed attitude adjustment.  Like Sarah Young says, it may feel awkward or contrived at first, but it changes our heart  This takes persistent practice each time we feel anxious.

Every situation has something connected to it we can be thankful for, if we look for it.  Your car breaks down and you don't know how you will fix it?----Thank God that you have a car because many people don't.  Do you perhaps even have a second car and though it will be grossly inconvenient to share, you can work things out until your car is fixed?  Ask God to provide for the solution now that you have thanked him.

Have you received a bad health diagnosis or are in a great deal of pain?---Thank God for the good health you have had, the doctors who are helping you, the medications or procedures that will help you, the family members who love and support you and encourage you and pray for you.  Ask God how you can use this situation to pray for someone else with a similar problem.  And take note of others with much worse problems.  It can make your problem seem smaller.

None of this fixes our situation---we need to wait on God for that---but by turning your thoughts to praise and thanks you find a new perspective that helps you to handle the problem and you put your worry and anxiety on the back burner. 

Much anxiety and worry is unnecessary, even though it feels so real.  When we turn our eyes to God with thanks, we cease to focus on fighting a problem all by ourselves, and we see God's faithfulness and his presence.

Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness in all things at all times.  Help me to have a heart of praise and thanks instead of a heart full of anxiety and worry.  Show me how to leave anxiety behind and live in your presence at all times and all circumstances.  I can't do this without your help.  amen