Have a heart

"Give me, Lord
A stout heart to bear my own burdens,
A tender heart to bear the burdens of others,
And a believing heart to lay all my burdens on you, for you care for us." - Lesslie Newbigin

The ancient philosophers understood that the heart was the seat of all emotions. Everything flowed from this small organ in the center of our chests. Jesus added even greater value this notion, when he commanded us to 'Love God with all of our Hearts.' 

How do we use our hearts? Are we able to have stout, tender and believing hearts today?

Matthew 11:29 - Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

He brings me back to life - he refreshes my soul

 

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. - Psalm 23:2-3

It is important to note that the shepherd is the one who leads us to the quiet waters. He goes before us, preparing the path and looking out for potential dangers. The goal of the shepherd is to lead us to the well-hidden pools of cool water and luscious pasture.

Robert Alter says that verse 3 (‘he refreshes my soul’) could be interpreted more as ‘my life he brings back’ – I love that image! It is speaking not just of a refreshing, but rather of a bringing back to life – to a complete spiritual wholeness. The refreshing of our souls increases our vitality and allows us the privilege of enjoying the abundant life.

Jesus invites his followers to experience this refreshing, and he invites them to rest in him. It is in times of rest that we are refreshed and invigorated for the next part of the journey:

Matthew 11:28 - Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Those who are weary

"He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength." - Isaiah 40:28-31

I think that we all know what it feels like to be tired and weak. When we get to this point in our lives it is usually as a result of having expended too much emotional or physical energy. 

In today's well-known passage (from Isaiah 40:30) we note that Isaiah also uses the word 'weary.' At first glance we can be excused for thinking it is the same meaning as weakness or tiredness. However, it is a different word, with a different meaning. According to the commentator, Motyer, it means “exhaustion because of the hardness of life.” 

Can we relate to that in any way? Have you ever felt exhausted because of the hardness of life? What hope does God give to us?

Action: Read Matthew 11:28-30

Living in Grace

D3LM3

When our burdens chafe our shoulders

"God of life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and wear us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies grey and threatening; when our lives have no music in them and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, we beseech you; turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise. Amen." - St. Augustine of Hippo

The words that initially struck me (in this quote) are from the first line - 'when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders.' How many of us are busy carry heavy burdens at the moment and we feel as if our shoulders have been chafed raw?

If this is you, then listen to the words of Jesus:

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:30

Living in Grace

D3LM3

A New Yoke - what does this mean?

“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 souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30

I was reminded today that when Jesus offered for us to take his yoke upon ourselves it was a radical offer. We usually imagine the idea of two oxen ploughing the fields, under the same yoke - one of them being represented by us and the other by Christ. Jesus takes up the greater strain of the yoke and we are given a moment to rest.

However, there is another side to the illustration. Rabbi's also referred to the teaching of the law as a 'yoke.' And that when we chose to follow God, we lifted the yoke upon our shoulders and learnt the ways of God. However, this proved to be a burden for many people, as they felt the desperate weight of their sins and the bondage of the law. Jesus' invitation to a new 'yoke' is therefore an invitation to a new way of following God -the way of Love, Mercy and Grace. 

May the words of Matthew 11 bless you with freedom, rest and peace, today. 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Come and rest

“Come now, insignificant man, fly for a moment from your affairs, escape for a little while from the tumult of your thoughts. Put aside now your weighty cares and leave your wearisome toils. Abandon yourself for a little to God and rest for a little in Him.” - Anselm of Cantebury

This quote from Anselm reminds me of the words of Jesus, who understands all our pain and struggles, and invites us to rest in his love. Sometimes all we need is just a few moments to catch our breath and to know that God is with us. I think of Susanna Wesley who had to find time in her massive household of 10 kids to pray and find her peace - she used to sit in a certain chair and put her apron over her head. This was her way of letting her kids know that she was praying. 

We can all find these little moments - we just need to be intentional about it.

Matthew 11:28 - “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

“I believe in order that I may understand.” - Anslem of Cantebury

Big Red L

We have had a Big Red "L" on the back of our vehicle for over a year now and it gets all kinds of funny comments from our friends. We are glad that our learner driver has recently graduated to become a certified driver. However, we will need to keep the "L" on for a while, as our 2nd son will soon be heading down the same road. This all got me thinking ....

...In a Christian sense being a disciple of Jesus implies that we are willing to be life-long learners. We follow Jesus all of our lives and we keep learning from him. I will only 'graduate' from my learnership when I die, so I guess I will have to keep the Big Red "L" on my heart until that day comes. 

The other point I want to make is that now that my son has experienced driving lessons in our town, I am a lot more sensitive to other learner drivers. It is easy to get irritated when you see someone stuck at a stop street, stalling the car a few times, but as soon as you realise that this could be your own child, it makes a huge difference in your attitude. 

So, what if we looked at other Christians in the same way? 

What if we look at the faults and mistakes of other believers with a little empathy and compassion?

What if we also saw ourselves as learners and that we may make our own mistakes today? 

I believe this may change the way we speak and care for one another.

What do you think?

Matthew 11:29 - " Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Recharging the batteries

Cellphone companies are constantly trying to improve the battery life on their devices. The longer your battery life the happier you will be! And yet, despite all of this fuss about battery life, you and I will still need to plug our phones into the socket, in order to charge our phones. No matter whether your current phone lasts a day or even two days, the batteries all need a recharge at some point.

And so the same applies to us. Why we think we can run for days and weeks on end, without allowing ourselves the chance to 'recharge' is beyond me. We need to recognise when our emotional and spiritual batteries are running flat and then to recharge. If we want to be effective in the long run, we need to look after our personal 'battery life.'

Matthew 11:28-30 - Come to me, all who labour 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.”

If you have some good ideas on how to recharge your spiritual lives then please share them in the comments section of this post. Thanks and God bless.

Living in Grace
D3LM3