THIRD QUARTER 2021
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #5
JULY 31, 2021
“COME TO ME...”

 

 

“Come unto Me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28, 29

 

I attended school for the purpose of learning for 25 years of my life. During that time, I learned reading, writing, and arithmetic. I learned sciences and about the world we live in. I learned about the structure and function of the human body and the many diseases that affect us. I learned about babies and how to help with a delivery. I even learned how to identify and remove various types of skin cancer and to repair the defects that come from surgery. But in all my 25 years of learning I have never taken a class in meekness or lowliness.

 

It certainly wasn’t because I didn’t need it. I know without question that my heart is not naturally meek or lowly. When something goes wrong, either to me personally or around me, my normal response is to get worked up inside if not outside as well. My mom tried to teach me not to let others cut in front of me in line. Our whole society teaches us to stand up for ourselves and our rights. There are all kinds of classes about this. Classes to teach us how to do the very thing we all by nature do very well. But no class in meekness.

 

Meekness, according to the Bible, is being humble and gentle towards others. It is being submissive and obedient to the Lord. It is not being loud, brazen or overconfident in your own strength. It is being patient and gentle in the face of wrong.

 

This was the meekness of Jesus. While He was strong He became weak for others (Philippians 2:5-8). “Through all the lowly experiences of life He consented to pass, walking among the children of men, not as a king, to demand homage, but as one whose mission it was to serve others. There was in His manner no taint of bigotry, no cold austerity. The world’s Redeemer had a greater than angelic nature, yet united with His divine majesty were meekness and humility that attracted all to Himself.”  MB 14

 

“Jesus emptied Himself, and in all that He did, self did not appear. He subordinated all things to the will of His Father…And He bids us, “Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself” (Matthew 11:29; 16:24); let self be dethroned and no longer hold the supremacy of the soul.”  MB 14

 

This is the invitation of Matthew 11:28,29. And here in is “revealed the secret of the Christian’s rest. It is found only in Christ. If we possess His meekness of spirit, we shall find peace and joy in Him. The world is full of unrest, trials, and difficulties. It is an enemy’s land and on every hand we are beset by temptations. “In the world,” says Jesus, “ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world;” and “my peace I give unto you.” (ST, Dec 17, 1885)

 

Jesus represents only one place to find rest and deliverance from the heaviness and oppression of life in this hostile territory. That place is not found in a physical location but in a Person. It is Him. And He invites us to simply come. Why? To give us something we do not possess in and of ourselves. He has this “something” and wants to give it freely and without reservation.

 

What He has and wants to give us is represented as a yoke. Now we might try to lessen the meaning of this word in multiple ways but there ultimately is no way to eliminate the idea or concept of a burden around the neck. Cattle were called beasts of burden and the term is one referencing that very idea. The collar, or yoke, would connect ox to the cart or whatever it is pulling.

 

Notice He calls it His yoke. Why would Jesus have a yoke anyway? Please don’t think for a minute that Jesus would give us a yoke that He himself does not wear. He most certainly wore the yoke of meekness and lowliness of heart and bridled the humanity He took upon Himself. And to the fallen nature this may seem an awful burden but here in lies the deception. For while it may feel like a burden it is actually light and easy in comparison to living without His yoke.

 

“Our Saviour represents His requirements as a yoke, and the Christian life as one of burden-bearing. Yet, contrasting these with the cruel power of Satan and with the burdens imposed by sin, He declares: “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

 

And notice what happens when we try to live the Christian life in our own strength without Christ. “When we try to live the life of a Christian, to bear its responsibilities and perform its duties without Christ as a helper, the yoke is galling, the burden intolerably heavy. But Jesus does not desire us to do this.” ST,  December 17, 1885

 

Continuing on, the servant of God says this, “Many profess to come to Christ, while they yet cling to their own ways, which are a painful yoke. Selfishness, covetousness, ambition, love of the world, or some other cherished sin, destroys their peace and joy. They are restless, impatient, dissatisfied, their spirits chafe under the weight of care and responsibility, all because they have not made a complete surrender to Jesus, and are seeking to carry their burden without His aid. If He were by their side, the sunshine of His presence would scatter every cloud; the help of His strong arm would lighten every burden.” ST, December 17, 1885

 

How many of us have felt restless, impatient and dissatisfied with a spirit that chafes under the weight of cares and responsibilities? I, for one, have. And when I do it is because I have in some ways clung to my own ways of doing, and thinking, and behaving, pressing through the cares of this life under the guidance of my own resources rather than His.

 

When Jesus wore the yoke of self-denial, meekness, and lowliness these are but the self-governing principles or agape. But, please don’t forget that He bore another yoke that was not easy and a burden that was not light. He bore the sin of the world. “He Who knew no sin was made to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus felt and bore every burden imposed by sin to its fullest measure so that you and I don’t have to.

 

“Christ gave Himself for us, “that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” His true followers are unlike the world in words, in works, and in deportment. But many are so fearful of provoking unfriendly criticism or malicious gossip that they have not the moral courage to act from principle. They dare not identify themselves with those who follow Christ fully. They love the world; and they desire to conform to its customs and to secure the approbation of worldlings. They thus cumber themselves with needless cares and anxieties, and weigh themselves down with heavy burdens. Oh! why will not all the professed children of God follow the Saviour fully? Why will they take upon themselves burdens which He has not imposed?”  ST, December 17, 1885

 

Isn’t that interesting? The stress, anxiety, insecurities, guilt, shame, burdens of life and ultimately the second death comes because we “take it upon ourselves”. Who in their right mind would willingly take these “burdens” upon themselves?

 

Selah

 

And that is the point. We are not in our right minds and it is the right mind that He wishes to give. The only question left is, “Will we have His mind?” He wants us to have it. And He has it to give.

 

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:5-8

 

Or as put in this week’s lesson:

 

 “Come unto me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28, 29

 

May we all receive the yoke today that will remove every needless care, anxiety, and burden that He never meant for us to carry. May the meekness and lowliness of Christ find a home in our hearts and may we all “come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;” Ephesians 4:13

 

"Abiding with Christ is choosing only the disposition of Christ, so that He identifies His interests with yours. When you give up your own will, your own wisdom, and learn of Christ as He has invited you, then you shall find entrance into the kingdom of God. Entire, unreserved surrender He requires. Give up your life for Him to order, mold, and fashion; take upon your neck His yoke; submit to be led and taught, as well as to lead and teach; learn that unless you become as a little child you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Abide in Him, to be and do only what He wills. These are the conditions of discipleship."

 

‘Unless these conditions are complied with, you cannot have rest. Rest is in Christ; it cannot be found as something He gives apart from Himself. The moment the yoke is adjusted to your neck, that moment it is found easy; and the heaviest labor in spiritual lines can be performed, the heaviest burdens can be borne, because the Lord gives the strength and the power, and He gives gladness in doing the work. Mark the points: Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart. Who is it that speaks thus? — The Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. He desires that your conception of spiritual things shall be purified from the fog of selfishness, the defilement of a crooked, coarse, unsympathetic nature. There must be the inward, higher experience. You must obtain a growth in grace by abiding in Christ. And when you are converted, you will not be a hindrance, but will strengthen your brethren.” A. T. Jones; ARSH February 14, 1899, p. 104

 

~Kelly Kinsley