Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 166

June 15;    Matthew 11:29;    11/260(III);    ‘Jesus’ Yoke’

Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Religion is a heavy yoke.  An endless requirement of do’s and don’ts, that those who teach these rules do not keep.  Religion will keep you busy going nowhere.  What religion does do, is appeal to our flesh.  Just as the religious leaders were so pious, bragging about how spiritual they were because of their ‘obedience’.  A religious spirit loves to believe that heaven is owed them because of their conduct.  So if religion causes misery because of its ever growing list of what must be done to please God or if religion causes pride by deceiving you into thinking how holy you are by your efforts,  yokes of bondage are the result.  In contrast, the Lord Jesus encourages us to take His yoke upon us.  Jesus would not tell us to take upon ourselves something that causes undo pressure upon us.  Jesus’ yoke is His Word.  The New Testament Law is love.  The Lord puts His love into our spirit when we are Born Again.  Jesus was humble in character, kind, compassionate and loving.  That is the way He wants us to live as well.  His love and provision provide everything we could ever need and His love in us allows us to be free from the way we are treated by others.  Or value and worth no longer come from others, it comes from Jesus.  How the heart of Jesus must have hurt when He saw the damage religion did and the attitude of religious leaders.  We have a relationship with Jesus and we serve Him and obey His Word because we dearly love Him.