“Come to me, all those exhausted and overloaded, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on your shoulders and learn from me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my load is light” (Matt 11:28-30).
Now for the second way we learn from Jesus…
Prayer. We also learn from Jesus by coming continually into his presence. We cannot allow our own, natural reactions and feelings to govern our behavior in the face of opposition. His presence must supervise the way we deal with inevitable roadblocks.
For example, when we are angry with a co-worker, we first turn to Jesus (“come to me!”). There he speaks to us, and we sense his attitude toward that person. He is not fuming like us, lusting to give that person a piece of his mind. Rather, he longs to have mercy and forgive. He sees the value and potential of that person, and feels compassion. Or when we are troubled about unfair treatment, in Jesus’ presence we discern that he is not anxious or ready to rise up against the person hurting us. Instead, he is patient and warm, steady in his sacrificial, quiet love to serve that person until kindness conquers the evil.
When we turn to our Lord’s presence in situations like these, his nature and ways rub off on us. Jesus teaches us his ways when we simply come to him as he is – in his meekness.
Once in his presence, free from the demands of selfish justice, ambition, religious pride, and worry, we experience his rest. His yoke is the easiest yoke to carry. From that place of rest, we can do anything.
And with that, our series of blogs is finished. Now may God gives us grace to enter his rest and learn meekness from his son.