Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
my sins are staring me down.
You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Jesus offers us the chance to share our burdens. It doesn’t necessarily lighten our load, but it can change the way we see it and feel about it. He is not speaking of just about sharing our burdens, it’s about partnering with us to change the way we see the life’s trials.
Interestingly, what Jesus is saying ties into a long known fact about how much more a team of oxen could plow through a field when a yoke was used to bind them together as a team. The Old Testament even makes reference to it. For example, 1 Samuel 14:14 refers to amount of land a yoke of oxen might plow in a day’s time. In fact, an acre of land was known in Jesus’ day as a yoke of land.
His message is not about lightening the load. It’s about partnering with Christ through the burdens. If we realize that we have someone we can lean on in times of need, we can get more done with our lives in spite of the trials we face. It’s why unbelievers often marvel at how Christians seem to persevere through difficult circumstances – most of the time with a smile on their face.
If we are wearing the “Yoke of Christ” and truly seeking to follow his ways, we all know that we can find joy and peace in the worst of circumstances. That’s what John meant when he said, “His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)
When Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light,” he didn’t mean that no effort is required on our parts. Even when we submit to his Lordship, we must work through everyday pain and suffering. That is part of becoming more Christ-like, too.
Waiting patiently for God always includes joyful expectation. Without expectation our waiting can get bogged down in the present. When we wait in expectation our whole beings are open to be surprised by joy.
All through the Gospels Jesus tells us to keep awake and stay alert. And Paul says, “Brothers and sisters … the moment is here for you to stop sleeping and wake up, because by now our salvation is nearer than when we first began to believe. The night is nearly over, daylight is on the way; so let us throw off everything that belongs to the darkness and equip ourselves for the light” (Romans 13:11-12). It is this joyful expectation of God’s coming that offers vitality to our lives. The expectation of the fulfillment of God’s promises to us is what allows us to pay full attention to the road on which we are walking. – Henri Nouwen
My newest addiction is FACEBOOK. I have let it control a large part of my “free time”. The best thing that FACEBOOK has brought to me is that I have had electronic communications with people from 30+ years ago. THEY HAVE CHANGED! It is really cool.
I searched for Jesus on FACEBOOK. Over 500 entries. The idea of FACEBOOK is to show a recent picture of your face. I found one picture of Jesus that had 5000+ friends. The picture used was the same one you see hanging in alot of peoples homes. If you don’t submit your picture, they put up a silhouette. I picked one of these Jesus’ with no picture and ask to be His friend. I pray that He will say yes. FACEBOOK also ask if I wanted to suggest names of people I know that He might know also. I looked through my list and He knows everyone-how am I to pick?
This last dilemma also caused me to ask myself if I am only friends with people like me. While I am chatting to my friends, there are numerous people standing at the door, needing a friend.
Liverpool Street Station ( London ) was an energized place to be at recently – January 2009- while T-Mobile filmed a new advertisement during rush hour! It took 8 weeks of planning, 8 sound tracks of 60s thru 90s music, 10,000 who auditioned, 400 chosen, 10 hidden cameras, and a terminal full of unsuspecting commuters… some of whom obviously missed their trains!
My newest addiction is FACEBOOK. I have let it control a large part of my “free time”. The best thing that FACEBOOK has brought to me is that I have had electronic communications with people from 30+ years ago. THEY HAVE CHANGED! It is really cool.
