A Word from Jane

Still Learning the "Three R's"
by Jane Berry

After the staff women's conference in April, I decided to continue meditating on the conference theme, Come Away . . . To Refresh Your Soul, Renew Your Love and Revive Your Passion. I encourage you to join me in going further and deeper in this important area of walking with Jesus.

Meditating on Matthew 6, Matthew 11, and Hebrews 12, I realized that these Scriptures have a lot in common. Each one teaches us about things that steal our spiritual rest and health. Fortunately, they also teach us how to keep the rest Jesus provides.

In Matthew 6:25-34, we discover that anxiety about daily life and daily survival is a sure way to cloud our sense of God's provision and care. Jesus uses the phrase "take no thought" at least three times to show us how to think about who we are and what we need. He cautions those who would embrace the wisdom of the Kingdom to shift their focus from earthly concerns to Kingdom convictions. He encourages those who would follow Him to think about His Kingdom and His ways before anything else. As a result, we are assured that our earthly needs will be met. Anxiety is fretfulness, nervousness, apprehension, and worry. Pure bondage. Anxiety about our needs robs us of joy and distracts us from our focus on Christ. How do we avoid anxiety? By prioritizing Jesus and His Kingdom.

In Matthew 11:28-30, we learn from Jesus that "yoking" to the unrealistic spiritual expectations of myself or others makes life laborious and burdensome. It robs us of the joy, ease, and freedom of following Jesus. I find that when I am most distressed, the source can be traced, not to Jesus, but to myself or others. The term "yoke" was a common expression in Jesus' day to describe submission to an obligation, whether civic, legal, or governmental. Jesus was addressing the freedom-robbing, mandatory legalism of the day. The "yoke of the law" was choking the spiritual life out of those seeking a genuine relationship with God. By contrast, the "yoke" of Jesus would be light and easy-unlike that of the Pharisees and scribes. Voluntarily yoking to Him would mean true freedom. When we take the yoke of Christ, hard work is made easy, and the soul finds rest. Modern-day Pharisees, with their obligatory yokes, are alive and well. Beware! How do we find rest? By voluntarily yoking to Jesus and His ways.

Finally, Hebrews 12:1-3 helps us focus on Christ as the source of our rest, our peace, and our strength. The Old Testament saints are listed in Hebrews 11. Beginning with Enoch, who pleased God, to those who suffered bodily mutilation for their faith, the writer describes them as "a cloud of witnesses" in chapter 12. But seeing these worthy people should not distract us from pure devotion to Jesus. The imagery is of running a race. The goal is to get to the end. Not only must we lay aside sin that easily entraps us, but we must also look away from these great leaders and martyrs to Jesus, "the author and finisher of our faith" (v. 2). As we "fix our gaze" on Him, we gain strength for the race and we are reminded of the suffering He endured for us. How do we gain strength? By intentionally looking away from others to Jesus.

These are encouraging thoughts when we consider how easily we are lured away from Christ by anxiety, lack of priorities, or distraction.