Friday, May 2, 2008

Words of Encouragement

The flowers of the field are clothed in the beauty of God. How much more will he clothe us in righteousness, if we humble ourselves before him?




"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

Humble Yourself. Rest for the burdened. What an invitation. Jesus calls to us and says, come and I will give you rest. Jesus says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. A yoke is a device used to keep an animal in line by it owner. It also represents a burden upon that animal. However, Jesus says my burden is not heavy it is not oppressive.

He also says he is humble in heart. Jesus is humble! He could make demands because he is the supreme one. Yet, he says he is not assuming, but is humble. If Jesus can humble himself to come to where we are, then we should be able to humble ourselves so that we can be lifted up to where God is.

He says we can find rest. I don't know about anybody else, but the comfort of knowing that the things that upset me, or that cause me to be restless can be given to God. When I give them to God and humble myself, he promises that he will give me a break from those things. In other words I don't have to carry the heavy burden (yoke) anymore of those other things because they weight me down. If I exchange that burden or yoke for Jesus', his is easy and and light.

As we go to worship this weekend, let us go thanking God for the blessings he offer to those that humble themselves. Lord help us to live humbly before you and when we do, you promise that you will hear our every word.