“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.” (NIV) Matthew 11:28-30
When the Bible speaks of “following Jesus”, it is proclaiming a discipleship which will liberate mankind from all man-made dogma, from every burden and oppression, from every anxiety and torture which afflicts the conscience. If they follow Jesus, men escape from the hard yoke of their own laws, and submit to the kindly yoke of Jesus Christ. But does this mean that we can ignore the seriousness of His command? Far from it! We can only achieve perfect liberty and enjoy fellowship with Jesus when His command, His call to absolute discipleship, is appreciated in its entirety. Only the man who follows the command of Jesus without reserve, and submits unresistingly to His yoke, finds his burden easy, and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right way. The command of Jesus is hard –unutterably hard — for those who try to resist it. (from The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Are you overwhelmed with commands? Are they man-made commands or of God? Do you seek to follow Jesus with all your heart? How have you experienced the sweet fellowship with God when you’re in sync with Him? Don’t you want that to be a moment by moment experience? Then open His Word, the Bible, read it and learn how much He delights in you. . .and see what He expects of you and from you. . . follow Him with reckless abandon. . . then and only then, will you find freedom and rest for your soul!
