Come unto me, all ye that labor and 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 ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. ~ Mathew 11:28-30
There is nothing common about A. W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. His treatise on the wonder of worship leads the reader into greater depths of self – abasement, that the “excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us”. Every chapter seems to shear off another layer of the self – life and unveil in greater brilliance the glory of Christ.
This morning, I was led like a lamb to the slaughter. The altar was in the form of a yoke. Not mine, but His. A yoke whereby we learn of Christ making us intimately acquainted with the meekness of Jesus. Here is what the Spirit of God revealed through Tozer self – undoing work:
“The burden borne by mankind is a heavy and a crushing thing. The word Jesus used means “a load carried or toil borne to the point of exhaustion.” Rest is simply release from that burden. It is not something we do. His own meekness, that is the rest.
Let us examine our burden. It is altogether an interior one. It attacks the heart and the mind and reaches the body only from within. First, there is the burden of pride. The labor of self – love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. HOW THEN CAN YOU HOPE TO HAVE INWARD PEACE? (Emphasis mine) The heart’s fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable. Yet the sons of earth are carrying this burden continually, challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under every criticism, smarting under each fancied slight, tossing sleepless if another is preferred before them.
Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method. THE MEEK MAN CARES NOT AT ALL WHO IS GREATER THAN HE, FOR HE HAS LONG AGO DECIDED THAT THE ESTEEM OF THE WORLD IS NOT WORTH THE EFFORT (Emphasis mine).”
Years ago, someone shared with me the analogy of the yoke of Jesus. They told me that as long as I stay in step with the Master, His yoke would yield continued rest. But if I become self – focused, veering wayward from the way of self – effacing meekness, then His yoke would be oppressive. This I have found from experience to be true. But, in contrast, when I willingly submit to His reign over all things in my life, His yoke is born with uninterrupted repose.
OH BROTHERS AND SISTERS, PLEASE PRAY FOR ME THAT THIS WILL BE MY EXPERIENCE.