Come. Learn. Rest.

“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.” Matthew 11:28-29 NIV

Come - Move or travel towards or into a place thought of as near. Travel in order to be with a specified person, to do a specified thing, or to be present at an event.

Weary- Feeling or showing extreme tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion

Burdened -A load, typically a heavy one. The main responsibility for achieving a specified aim or task.

Rest - Cease work or movement in order to relax, sleep, or recover strength. Place hope, trust, or confidence on or in.

Yoke - A wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plough or cart that they are to pull. Bond together; join

Learn - Gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, experience, or being taught

Gentle -Having or showing a mild, kind, or tender temperament or character. 

Humble - Having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's importance. Of low social, administrative, or political rank.Meek & unassuming.

Come all you who are weary and burdened…..is that you? As much fun as the holidays are they can pack quite a punch with the exhaustion, the parties, the shopping, the hustle and bustle of planning events. All really fun things, and things that make the holidays the best time of year, but I think sometimes unintentionally they make us weary or burdened. Or maybe for you the holidays have taken a back seat because of the overshadowing doom and gloom of the election. Maybe you find yourself in a season of being weary and burdened, if so, then this is for you. 

I just love that I read these verses today in Matthew 11:28-29. In these verses this is Jesus talking in and he is talking to pretty much anyone who would listen, but specifically to those people who have chosen to follow Him. 

To understand the context of this passage you need to have an understanding of each word so that is why I wrote out the definitions for you. You also need to know during this timeperiod in Scripture, the Pharisees were placing a heavy pressure on people of faith by insisting on a legalistic interpretation of the law. Jesus came to commit a new way to them. He was saying; forget all the ways they are saying to live for me. Forget the rules and regulations of religious acts. It’s not about law and rule and dictatorship, it’s about me. Come follow me. He promised to take the weary and the burdened people and give them rest. But he instructs them to do two things:

1. Take my yoke up you. If you look at the definition of yoke you see that again in keeping with the context of scripture he was giving them a word picture by using the word yoke. A yoke was a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plough or cart that they are to pull. It bound them together to work in unison. That is what Jesus was asking the weary and burdened to do. To fasten, bind, join together with him. 

2. Second thing he tells us to do is, learn from me. Its not just come follow me, come join with me in unison, but we are also instructed to learn from Him. Look at the definition of learn: Gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, experience, or being taught. Learn from me……

He continues by saying that He is gentle (mild, kind, tender temperament or character), and humble (showing modest or low estimate of his importance, meek, and unassuming). That is who Jesus is. That is what he is asking us to be like. He is asking us to following the example of having a mild, kind, tender temperament or character. To show a modest or low esteem of yourself importance, to be meek, and unassuming….that is what he was asking His followers to do. 

And I love the last part of the verse, it says, “….and you will find rest for your souls.” Then and only then, when we follow Jesus (come), when we take up his yoke (bind, join, unify with him), when we chose to learn from Him about his gentle (mild, kind, tender), and humble (low opinion of self)…….we will find rest for our souls. 

That is the key this holiday season. That is how you will find rest for your soul in the midst of the madness that is swirling around you, whether it’s in your personal life, what you read or watch in the media, even through all the opinions we read on social media…..He is the rest for our souls. Be set apart today. xoxo

Presidential Election 2016

Its November 8, 2016. It’s a big day in US history…every Presidential Election is a big day in America if I am being honest, but something happened this time when I went through the line to vote…something unexpected. A little back story that gets me where I am today…last Friday I went to see the movie Hacksaw Ridge with my husband…it’s a movie on the life of an amazing man, Desmond T. Doss. You can find more on his life here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Doss. 

He became the first and only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II. Enlisting voluntarily in April 1942,[4] Doss refused to kill an enemy soldier or carry a weapon (pistol) into combat because of his personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist. He then saved the lives of over 75 infantrymen he was serving with during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945; at the same time he was adhering to his religious convictions. 

I don’t know about you, but that hit me hard. I walked out of that movie, (I know it’s a movie, but they did a darn good job at making it feel real!) but I just could not stop the tears from flowing. I don’t know if it was because Mr. Doss was from the city I’ve spent the last 17 years of my life in, or if it was because I was so touched, inspired, in awe of this man and what he did, or because of his conviction to the Lord…I’m sure it was all of that combined, but wow what a legacy he left! I just had a greater appreciation for what our service men and women go through for OUR freedom here in the States. The stakes of voting seemed a lot higher today. 

As I stood in the line, I was looking at all of the different people that were in that line, all different ages, races, genders, backgrounds, religious views….it was a mosaic of people. All of them were standing in the line wanting to express their freedom and express their voice by placing their vote in the ballot box. It was just emotional for me, given what I had just been reminded of Friday. The price people paid for our freedom was just super humbling.  After I walked past the line of people back out to my car to head to work, it was as if I was walking in slow motion. Looking in the eyes of people I was passing; know they all have souls, and lives they live. Not all of them agree with me, not all of them share the same convictions I do, but all of them were there because of our freedom to be there. As I sat down in my car I was overcome with emotion and just started weeping. Never in my adult life have I been emotional about an election, let alone cried after voting! I am not sure where the emotion was coming from; gratitude for the people who paid the price for me, or nervousness about the state of our country in the year 2016, but what happened next was what calmed my soul. 

I turned on the radio and this song by All Sons and Daughters was on: https://youtu.be/uHz0w-HG4iU

The lyrics are: 

You give life, You are love
You bring light to the darkness
You give hope, You restore
Every heart that is broken
Great are You, Lord

It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise
We pour out our praise
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise to You only

You give life, You are love
You bring light to the darkness
You give hope, You restore

Every heart that is broken
Great are You, Lord

All the earth will shout Your praise
Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing
Great are You, Lord

And through my tears I sang, “So we pour out our praise to You only….” Its all for Jesus anyway.

So if your soul is at unrest let’s remember what Romans 13:1 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” 

No matter the outcome of this election, God is still God & He is still on the Throne….and he still will be November 9, 2016 too! So thankful for that!