Tag Archives: gentle

WEAR THE YOKE OF JESUS

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WEAR THE YOKE OF JESUS

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all who over all and through all and in all (Eph. 4: 1-6).

In this letter, in which he did not deal with false doctrine or practical problems in the church or in the individual’s lives, Paul followed his usual pattern of basing his practical appeal on doctrinal teaching, explaining the implications of what God had done for them in Christ through His death and resurrection and calling them to respond in faith and obedience.

Paul continued the Old Testament concept of life as a journey and faith in Jesus as a walk with Him. He appealed to his readers to follow Jesus in a manner worthy of their calling. To what were they called? They were called out of the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, out of disobedience to God and a life of sin – transgression of God’s laws and the self-destruction which was the inevitable result, to a life of faith in God and obedience to Jesus as Lord.

They no longer belonged to the world system with its greedy and selfish pursuits, but to the kingdom of God, under His authority and living in obedience to His standards because they had been made spiritually alive and able to hear and respond to His Spirit in them. This kingdom required a new attitude and outlook on life. No longer were they under the devil’s influence and held in bondage to sin. They were free to express the life of God in them by their love for God and for one another.

This must have been a “mind-blowing” experience for people who knew nothing but idolatry and the perverse behaviour idolatry produced. Out of this depraved lifestyle flowed the fear, guilt and shame with which their consciences responded and which they could not silence. Peace with God through Jesus brought freedom from fear and inward rest which was both new and indescribably wonderful to them.

Paul appealed to his readers to maintain this peace by wearing the yoke of Jesus characterised by humility and gentleness. Remember Jesus’ words?

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke 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 (Matt. 11:28-30).

Jesus was speaking to those who were burdened by a religious system that demanded endless rule-keeping in order to gain the acceptance of a God whom they believed to be demanding and relentless in his requirements for holiness. Jesus offered a way of life that freed them from this legalistic bondage.  He called them to imitate Him and they would be free to live in peace and harmony with God and with one another.

“Gentle and humble”? Is it possible to tame our selfish and unruly hearts so that we are content to be who we are and to enjoy what we have without being in constant conflict and competition with others? Yes, it is! Through Jesus, God has removed our sin and the reason for the fear, guilt and shame that underlies our aggression towards our fellow human beings.

He has sent His Spirit to live in our hearts as His representative, to give us the power to overcome the ravages of our old, sinful nature. We are no longer bound to be selfish and antagonistic towards others. God has poured His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit in us. We are free to follow Jesus and to apply His yoke of patience, gentleness and humility in our attitude towards others.

Have you ever been in situations where the old nature rises up and demands to be allowed to react? I have! How does one deal with oneself on these occasions? Time and again I have had to remind myself that, as a disciple of Jesus, I am called to follow Him and to imitate Him. To my surprise, I find that the decision to let my anger and irritation go brings the power to do it. I allow my thoughts to return to the truth that I am a daughter of the Father. He is in me by His Spirit and His Spirit causes me to think and act in patience, gentleness and humility as one who bears the image of His Son.

These are the practical ways in which I am able to express the life of God in me. It is a journey, not an easy one because I have my old, sinful nature to contend with, to subdue and the new nature of love to nurture. But, as I practise and learn, I progress, however slowly and falteringly, towards the goal of becoming like Jesus in His gentleness and humility.

Being a Christian is not about going to church, carrying out religious rituals and keeping rules. It’s about following Jesus, learning to be submissive and obedient children of God, doing and being what He wants and responding to Him in unwavering trust whatever comes our way in life. The Holy Spirit in us is our personal companion and guide. He will lead us unerringly to the Father as we learn to hear His voice and respond to Him.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3, eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

Who Gets The Washcloth?

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WHO GETS THE WASHCLOTH?

“He quoted a proverb: ‘Can a blind man guide a blind man?’ Wouldn’t they both end up in a ditch? An apprentice doesn’t lecture the master. The point is to be careful who you follow as your teacher.

“It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbour’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this I-know-better-than-you mentality again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your own part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbour.'” Luke 6:39-42 (The Message).

Isn’t it amazing how right we all think we are! The world is full of blind guides who think they can see, and are leading blind people into ditches everywhere.

Jesus warned His hearers to be careful who they followed. The scribes and Pharisees,  the religious “experts” of His day, fitted His description very well — blind guides who thought they were right, so right in fact that they were ready to destroy truth for the sake of their right-ness.

Take, for example, the scientific fraternity that teaches the ridiculous theory of evolution as proven fact when every intricate detail of creation (a word they freely use, yet deny the Creator), screams out the truth that there has to be a Designer. Yet most of the people in the educated world believe they are right!

And where has that got us? Into the ditch of utter moral darkness! To accept evolution as fact and follow its ramifications is to be just like the apes we are supposed to have evolved from, devoid of common sense and reason. It takes a huge leap of faith into a deep, dark void of foolishness to believe that, in spite of the fact that every simple thing humans make needs a design, the whole of creation just “happened” by chance! Really?

How can we be safeguarded from the boffins who insist they are right regardless of the facts? Weigh up the evidence! In the Apostle Paul’s day, the Bereans were applauded for their good sense. “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11 (NIV).

What does it take to weigh up the evidence and come to an informed conclusion? It takes a humble admission that I don’t know everything, I can’t explain everything but someone else does, and I’ll take the trouble to find out from an authoritative source.

Jesus laid the problem at the door of our innate human pride. We are so blind to our own pitiful ignorance that we dare to sneer at others and offer to wash the spots off their faces when our own are blotched with contempt because we think we know better.

Test your own heart. What lies underneath those judgmental, critical thoughts, even if they are never uttered? “I’m not like that! I don’t do that! I’m better than you! I know more than you do! I’m right and you’re wrong!”

Humility is a great leveller and it opens the door to many things that pride excludes us from — wisdom, knowledge and understanding, friendship, peace and harmony with others, just for a start and, most important of all, God’s grace. “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5b (NIV).

There is one source of truth upon which we can stand with great confidence, the Word of God. Truth needs no defence. It needs only to be spoken. It will endure while lies, false teaching, and wrong thinking will all disappear because they have no substance. The Scriptures admonish us to test everything and to hold fast to that which is good.

Are you a fool or do you do that?