Todays Our Daily Bread and Insight A Sanctuary - By Bill Crowder Read: Matthew 11:25-30 25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26 Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27 All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. —Matthew 11:28 Entering a church in Klang, Malaysia, I was intrigued by the sign welcoming us into the building. It declared the place to be “A Sanctuary for the Heavy Laden.” Few things better reflect the heart of Christ than for His church to be a place where burdens are lifted and the weary find rest. This was vital in Jesus’ ministry, for He said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Jesus promised to take our burdens and exchange them for His light load. “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” (vv.29-30). This promise is backed by His great strength. Whatever burdens we may carry, in Christ we find the strong shoulders of the Son of God, who promises to take our heavy burdens and exchange them for His light load. Christ, who loves us with an everlasting love, understands our struggles, and can be trusted to provide us with a rest we can never find on our own. His strength is enough for our weakness, making Him our “sanctuary for the heavy laden.” “Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear, And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears. —Martin God calls the restless ones to find their rest in Him. Insight A yoke is a wooden harness that joins two animals (usually oxen or donkeys) so they can work together to pull heavy loads. In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah used it as a metaphor for God’s laws (Jer. 5:5) and as a symbol of submission and enslavement (27:8). The Jews had been wearied and enslaved by the heavy yoke of legalistic Judaism that the Pharisees had strenuously imposed on them (Matt. 23:4). Come to Me (v.28) is Jesus invitation to put their trust in Him for salvation and deliverance. Jesus yoke is easy and light (v.30) because it comes from His mercy and love, rooted in who He is—gentle and lowly in heart (v.29). Jesus extends that same invitation to us today. Because of our new birth, His commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3-4). Jeremiah 5:5 - “I will go to the great And will speak to them, For they know the way of the Lord And the ordinance of their God.” But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke And burst the bonds. Jeremiah 27:8 - “It will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence,” declares the Lord, “until I have destroyed it by his hand. 1 John 5:3-4 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 10:44:56 +0000
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