| 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. Matthew 11: 28, 29
One thing that bothers many Christians is the inability to decipher what it takes to please God. Like the Pharisees at the time of Jesus, the abundant life has become a “struggle to please” situation for many. They have forgotten the call of Jesus in chapter 11 of Matthew to come to Him with all burdens and He will give rest to our souls. We say we have come to Him by faith, but neglect the request which He makes in the same sitting “Take My yoke upon you” and “learn from Me”. There are many tired Christians today because many are struggling to please God using various styles and techniques. Jesus gives rest to all who come to Him (Hebrews 4: 9,10). The call to rest is a call to cease from our own works and attempts at making God happy, to a life lived in synchrony with Him. I recently heard a preacher describe the yoke Jesus was referring to in Matthew 11 as a double looped instrument which is used to connect two oxen together. In this way, they can work together to till their master’s field and bear fruit. Jesus requests that we come to Him with our burdens and find rest for our souls; but He’s offering us something in replacement for our burdens—His yoke. Jesus asks that we take His yoke upon ourselves because He wants to come alongside us and work with us; He wants to be your partner and the one you look to for counsel. We learn from Him that we already please God because of the price that He paid on the cross. We also learn from Jesus that He has given us the Holy Spirit to come alongside as our helper. The double loop yoke reminded me of the statement of Jesus about the person of the Holy Spirit. “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” John 14:16. Jesus does not leave us by ourselves to express the godly nature. He gives us the Holy Spirit to come alongside us and help us fulfill His own good purpose for our lives. The Spirit teaches us all things and leads us on in the way of real life. Pleasing God becomes all we do then because we are acting out all He leads us to do. Praise God, we have the Holy Spirit who empowers us to do all that God will have us do. Learn true rest by accepting that you please God and He works in you to fulfill His good pleasure. Ifelayo Ojo |
