Come, take, learn

"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 soul. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Mt. 11:28-30

I read these throughly familiar words today, and (I'm embarrassed to say) for the first time I really contemplated what it meant to take Jesus' yoke upon me. Boy, I've got the "weary and burdened" part down flat, as I'm sure many of us do! We are all so busy, so often overwhelmed with life's challenges, so exhausted and depleted. We already feel like we are living life with absolutely no margins, no extra space and then the unexpected hits: an illness, a wayward child, a strained relationship, and we simply feel like our rocking boat is about to capsize.

But Jesus calls us to "come," to "take," and to "learn." How thankful I am that He doesn't command us to "do!' He doesn't tell us to buck up, to do better, to try harder, to be better. He simply tells us to "come." As Matthew wrote these words, I wonder if he was reminded of Jesus' original call to him. Here was Matthew, a despised tax collector (considered by the Jews to be the worst of the worst), and when Jesus first sees him sitting in his tax booth, He tells Matthew "Follow Me." Again, not "Get your act together, Matthew, and then you can come join the rest of the disciples." Not, "Stop sinning," or "stop stealing money from your people," or "stop betraying your nation and become a man of integrity and then you can try to follow and obey Me." No, simply, "Follow Me."

Jesus knew that is all Matthew could do at that point. Jesus knew that it all begins with a relationship with Him. It all starts by following the Savior and then all the rest will follow. How often we get it all turned around--we think we have to figure it out or improve or shape up before we come to Jesus. But He tells us simply to "come" just as He told Matthew to "follow." You know, I may fail at obedience or prayer. I may forget to have an attitude of gratitude or of love and grace towards others. But, by golly, I can "come!"

When we are discouraged or disappointed or despairing, we can surely "come" to the Lord Jesus. And that is where it starts...and sometimes if that is all we can do, then that will be enough. He is more than able to fill in all our empty, desperate spaces.

But if we can take just tiny baby step more, He calls us to "take," and o, the blessings when we take His yoke upon us! Why do I want to try to drag along my ponderous burdens myself? Why wouldn't I want to exchange my weighty burdens for His yoke of blessing and rest?

As I pondered the meaning of His yoke, I thought of the yoke of an ox and the symbolism of submission. Warren Wiersbe writes that "To 'take a yoke' in that day meant to become a disciple." In other words, to take His yoke would be simply to surrender to Him, to follow Him in obedience. It's not a yoke of burden but a yoke of blessing and rest for as we daily surrender to Him, He gives us peace and joy and hope and forgiveness and all that we need to live this life. And His yoke is "easy" and "light." Does that describe the burdens I place upon myself or other people? I don't think so. My self-imposed burdens lead to condemnation and exhaustion and discouragement. His lead to rest and peace and joy.

But finally, He tells us to "learn" of Him. We first have to come to Him as our Savior. Then we have to choose to take His yoke by surrendering to Him and His plans and His ways. And then we daily learn of Him--a process in which we daily, yearly, come to know Him better and better through His Word. I learn how to cook by spending time reading recipes and cooking. I learn to play golf by listening to a teacher and then by practicing. I learn of Jesus by reading His instruction manuel, the Bible, and then by daily "practicing" obeying what He tells me. And in return, He gives me His peace, His rest, His joy, His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace, His love, His power. Wow! So simple. So profound. So burden-lifting to exchange my burdens for His yoke. To daily come, take, and learn.

Help me, help us, Lord Jesus, to take You at Your Word. When life is closing in and our burdens threaten to overwhelm us, help us to come and take and learn. When we feel discouraged or defeated, help us to come and take and learn. When life's circumstances are far beyond what we can handle or bear, help us to come and take and learn. And He will provide us rest--true, abundan- life, rest for our souls. To God be the glory!

The Urgent or the Important Pile

Wow, it has been a long time since I last wrote on here! This pretty much reflects my life--how often I can get sucked into lurching from one thing to another on my extensive to do list, and the next thing I know, I am focusing on the urgent rather than the important. The urgent screams out our name, and we feel we MUST get those letters out, that laundry folded, those phone calls made, those emails read and answered... It truly never ends. But the important waits quietly and unobtrusively in the wings of our frenetic lives. Spending time alone with God in His Word, reading to our child at night, sharing struggles or blessings with our family at dinner, eating a real dinner together (!), writing or calling to encourage a friend who is going through a tough time--these are the important things of life which renew us and transform our lives from a dull, practical gray to a rainbow of colors.

It is said that President Eisenhower had a firm rule about what papers were to be put on his desk. There were to be only 2 piles of paper--one was only the most urgent papers and the other only the most important papers. Ike later commented that only rarely were the piles the same. Urgency is the enemy of peace and perspective and gratitude. But when we daily choose to do that which is important, we find His joy bubbling up even in the midst of busyness or struggles.

So, nothing profound, but just a reminder that today, do that which God tells you is important and watch how He will order your day and enable you to do that which is urgent, but nonetheless secondary. As one proverb puts it: reverence for God adds hours to each day. Take time to express your gratitude today. Don't just think it (though you do need to start there--sometimes we forget to even think about what we are grateful for!); share it out loud with someone you love...beginning with God and then ending with someone who has a "skin face." Who knows how your word of encouragement might make all the difference to that person?

Try, just for today, to practice an "attitude of gratitude." When you feel yourself starting to complain--even if it's just abut the weather--turn it around and think of something to be grateful for instead. Yesterday morning early, I took our dog out for a walk. It had rained hard the night before, and as we walked up one dark street, the streetlight illuminated a carpet of newly fallen yellow leaves. It was a burst of joy as I thanked God for that lovely carpet of brilliantly colored leaves under our feet--a gift for which I had paid absolutely nothing but enjoyed far more than any shiny bauble purchased at a store. As I picked up my sons' clothes (again!), I smiled as I thanked the Lord for the privilege of raising those boys. As I once heard and remind myself of daily, "I am here to serve with joy." One cannot help but be filled with joy even in the most mundane and unrelenting of service when one chooses gratitude. And when we choose to put the important, the eternal, first in our lives, our perspective will be changed from one of grim determination to get it all done to joyful expectancy in how God will enable us to do all He's called us to do.

So, today, I choose to finally write in this blog and share how God is counseling my all too often preoccupied and therefore ungrateful heart to seek Him first. Do the important. Do it today. And watch Him put the song back in your heart. To Him be all the glory!