Wednesday, December 11, 2024

11 December 2024 - a yoke to you


Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.

We should not say "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God". He knows our sorrows and our struggles. He himself is waiting for us to come to him. We are meant to cast our cares on him because of his love for us (see First Peter 5:7). This is meant to be a prerequisite before we can offer comfort to others in turn. He "comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (see Second Corinthians 1:4). So we shouldn't think of ourselves as excessively selfish or needy when we seek the rest and comfort that we are meant to find in the presence of God. We are not the only ones who labor and are burdened. But we cannot give to these others what we ourselves have not first received.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.

When we insist on bearing only our own yoke, no matter how particularly we craft and curate it, we risk fainting and growing weary though we be young men. Beneath weight we are not meant to bear even youths will stagger and fall. It is only when we take on the yoke of Jesus, a yoke that he himself shares with us, that we find our strength renewed. The key is that it is no longer our own strength but that of Jesus himself that makes us strong. It is then that we learn to say, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (see Philippians 4:13).

It is not the case that the rest given by Jesus leads to inactivity or laziness. It is rather the rest of a futile struggle surrendered in favor of strength and vigor for a grand adventure. We don't end up doing less, but more. But we are not exhausted in this because the power that makes it possible is not our own. This invisible and inexhaustible source of strength is meant to give evidence of God's power in our lives just as it did in the lives of the saints. How was God able to accomplish so much through them? Precisely because they surrendered their own agendas and committed themselves to the yoke of Jesus. They did not rely only on the abilities that they imagined they brought to the table but trusted that Jesus himself would supply any deficiency to allow them to accomplish his purposes.

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness (see Second Corinthians 9:10).



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