Christ's Yoke

"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. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Matthew 11:29-30

I was reading through Malachi this morning when I came across a wonderful promise to those who trust God, and it prompted me to seek out Christ's words in Matthew.  Malachi 4:2 says, "But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves."  Jesus Christ is the Son (and Sun here, the Light of the World) of righteousness who died on Calvary and has risen glorified.  He is our Saviour, the One who has called us and sent us out to all the world to proclaim His everlasting truth of the Gospel.

When Malachi compared those who trust in God to being "stall-fed calves," it reminded me of what Jesus said.  He urged people to take His yoke upon them, and this is something a calf must be taught to do.  The freedom we have in Christ is not without boundaries and the labours we do alongside Christ are not like the shackles of sin or the bondage of legalism.  Christ's yoke is easy and His burden light because He has done the heavy lifting for us, nailing the handwriting of ordinances which was against us to the cross and triumphing over principalities and powers.

An interesting fact about yokes is different yokes are required for donkeys, horses, and oxen because of their size and basic anatomic structure.  A yoke for ox is completely unsuitable for the body of a horse.  A harness which connects a horse to a carriage or buggy would be useless for an ox.  Jesus bids us take His yoke upon us and learn from Him.  The amazing truth is God became flesh like us, and having been born again by the Holy Spirit we are adopted into the family of God.  Through the Gospel of grace we have become members of the Body of Jesus Christ the Church, and He is the Head of the Body.  Jesus is willing and able to share a yoke with us!  He has humbled Himself to come down to our level, and He has raised us up to sit with Him in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:6).

Only in Jesus is rest found for our souls.  The scriptures testify of His character, discipline, love, obedience to the Father, and humble service we ought to emulate.  He says if we will come after Him we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him.  Jesus was crucified on a cross for the sins of the world, and having been made righteous by faith in Him we take up our cross in obedience.  David said he would not offer as a sacrifice to God that which cost him nothing, and Jesus has paid the price so our lives can be offered as a living sacrifice to God--which is our reasonable service.  It is costly for us to lay down our lives, but Jesus has already shown us the way and that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  How gentle and lowly He is!

Praise the LORD we can take Christ's yoke upon us and learn from Him, all by the grace of God.

Book of Remembrance

"Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name."

Malachi 3:16

I have long aspired to writing a book.  Though I write often I have yet to be inspired to sustain any thought for hundreds of pages, nor do I feel my contributions superior to anything written.  I have had ideas flit through my mind, but none of them have stuck.  But today I was reminded of a book God is writing, a book all those who fear God contribute to when they speak and think of Him.

Have you ever been in a room and heard your name mentioned and perked up, wondering of the context of the conversation where your name made an unexpected appearance?  Malachi 3:16 reveals God does the same thing when we speak or think of Him.  Those who love and fear God will speak to one another of Him, and God listens and hears.  This may seem redundant in English, but the word translated "listened" has more to do with catching the ear or one's attention.  "Heard" is fairly straight forward, yet it is to hear intelligently and intently--not to vaguely hear of a rumour.  It is amazing to think we are God's treasured children, and He delights to be treasured by us.

God knows and sees all, yet He has a book of remembrance written to note the times those who fear Him speak and think of Him.  Short chapters are in vogue today, but wouldn't you like to have a lengthy chapter attributed to you in this book?  God is not forgetful or greedy for attention, but this book "was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name."  This book is written for our sakes!  If you fear God, speak of Him and meditate on His name, God is writing this book for your sake.  He is the Author of life and our faith, yet we are given credit as a team of authors He will keep forever.

My wife Laura for many years compiled pictures of our sons in individual books, and they could be called books of remembrance.  We enjoy occasionally leafing through these albums:  what is nostalgic for Laura and I might be things my sons don't even remember.  I believe the book of remembrance God is having written for us will be like this.  He remembers everything without fail, but I might not even remember what I had for lunch yesterday.  I wonder if this is one of the books opened in addition to the Lamb's Book of Life when people are judged in the last day.  Everyone who is in the Book of Life will have at least a mention in the book of remembrance.

I might never have a book title to my name or "author" on my resume, but God is writing a book for me.  And you know what?  Knowing this I am content. :)

Be Still and Know

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! ¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah"

Psalm 46:10-11

During prayer I was reminded of these verses and had forgotten they had been included in my sermon notes!  It was good to meditate on these verses, and this meditation has nothing to do with repeating a particular word or phrase.  Meditation for a Christian involves conscious thought.  Depending on where the stress is placed, God opens new avenues of thought.

God's command to those whose world is coming apart at the seams is to look to Him in trust and reliance is to "Be still."  Instead of rushing around trying to scheme or save, look to the Saviour.  We can "know" God alone is our Saviour, having received the truth of His Word and the indwelling Holy Spirit.  He says "I am God," not because He is shaking Himself from sleep or is in the midst of a identity crisis, but in times of crisis it is we who often forget.  God always keeps His word without fail.

When God says, "I will," we can view it as already done.  He "will be exalted among the nations" regardless if it seems like it or not.  Being the Almighty our God IS exalted, but am I exalting Him by faith and obedience?  This reminds me of the Christian's sanctification:  it is finished in the sense we are set apart unto God, but we also share a responsibility to sanctify ourselves in obedience to Him.  God is exalted, and we do well to exalt Him personally too.  God "will be exalted in the earth," and He graciously uses followers of Jesus Christ to that end.  In fact, even heathen kings like Pharaoh were used mightily by God to show His power, strength, and salvation.

Isn't it good to know the LORD of hosts is with us?  The eternal King is with us, and through faith in Christ He dwells in us.  The God who appeared to Jacob and changed His name to Israel is the God who is faithful to His promise and transforms us.  Like the location of a fortified bunker is known to the owner, so God is known by us.  At all times we can seek refuge in Him and find a supply of wisdom, help, refreshment, protection, and sustaining strength foreign to the world.  He skips across mountains at the sound of our voice, the voice of His beloved.  How gracious and good our God is, and let us be still and know that He is God--not us.

Strategic Patches

The local council removed a large tree from the parkway in front of my house and left a large patch of bare dirt.  Being winter the turf was dormant and did not fill in the damaged patches of lawn topped up with sand.  Though we did not have rain for months, apparently the clover did not get the memo.  When healthy Sir Walter turf spreads thick and is quite impenetrable, but the patchy condition made it susceptible to invasive weeds.  As I pulled weeds this afternoon, looking over at my neighbour's lawn which was completely green and weed free, it was obvious a healthy lawn is the best defense against unwanted weeds.

Bare spots in the lawn practically invite weeds to spring up uncontested.  This shows the folly of trying only to resist sin rather than to flee from it and do what is right.  Some vice will surely fill the bare spots in our character unless good things are sown there.  Turf must be watered and fed regularly, and properly winterising it would have prevented a lot of the weeds I pulled from growing at all.  I was reading and came across a great quote from C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity today:

"Good and evil both increase at compound interest.  That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.  The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.  An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible." (Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity & the Screwtape Letters: Complete in One Volume. HarperSanFrancisco, 2003.)

It is good to see the purpose in one seemingly small act can have massive, long-reaching implications.  C.S. Lewis wrote at a time when World War 2 loomed large in the minds of people, where the deeds of one heroic man or coward might change the course of war.  Realising we are in a battle with our flesh and that our allegiance is to Christ about self is something we must often be reminded.  I want to progress in maturity and faith, not backslide.  Sometimes we will make mistakes and need to drop to our knees to clear away the weeds of sin in repentance, but let us stand in faith and press on doing good for God's glory.  That denial of the flesh and choosing to do good is like a patch of green turf which will spread in time.