“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, NIV)
There is one person in my life who taught me more about golf than any other. I have had several swing teachers, but this person taught me about how to play the game. I learned about focus and the danger of distraction. I learned that being longer than anyone else didn’t mean much if I couldn’t put the ball into the hole. I learned that there were things I could control and things I couldn’t control. I learned to take one shot at a time and to forget about the past. I learned all of this not by directly being taught, but by playing with and observing a person who clearly knew better than I, what it took to be successful. She showed me what it was like to be a player and not just a ball striker. I wanted to be like her.
This is very much like what it means to follow Jesus. He calls us to take his yoke and learn from him. He wants us to be next to him in the yoke; from that position we can learn how to live our life. Close contact with him is of utmost importance. We cannot learn what he wants to teach us unless we are willing to spend the time with him and watch and learn. We can listen to all kinds of spiritual teaching without ever knowing exactly how to apply it in our daily life. Jesus wants us to apprentice ourselves to him so that we can aspire to be like him. We will acquire his attitudes and characteristics not by merely hearing someone talk about living a good life, but in much the same way that a golfer picks up good habits by watching someone who knows more than they do.
Jesus came to earth to make a way for us to become part of the kingdom of God. Everything he ever said or did helps us to know more clearly what it is that we really want and need in our life. We can ignore this simple truth, but we will not progress as we should unless we look to the one who is the expert on living life well.
So how do we take his yoke and learn to walk in the way he walks? We must first admit that we don’t know where we should go and even if we did, we are helpless to get there on our own. He delights in those who seek to know him. He promises that he will never leave or forsake us and that he will teach us everything that we need to know to become the truest and best version of ourselves. He is the greatest teacher who ever lived and he wants to tutor each one of us personally.
How can we know him better? We need to open the New Testament, which recorded his life and teaching, and start there. How he lived and what he said is profoundly important in understanding ourselves. His words speak life to us. The only way we can know what they are is to read and meditate on what he said and did. That’s the yoke. He leads us the rest of the way out of the darkness and into the light.
—
Linda Ballard
January 4, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.