{"id":1842,"date":"2024-11-16T09:06:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T09:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/KP2\/?p=1842"},"modified":"2024-11-04T17:52:28","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T17:52:28","slug":"november-16-easy-and-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/november-16-easy-and-light\/","title":{"rendered":"November 16, Easy and Light"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1842\" class=\"elementor elementor-1842\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-58f8007 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"58f8007\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-cd17962\" data-id=\"cd17962\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f1e341e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2f1e341e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1843\" src=\"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/KP2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hands-open.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"337\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hands-open.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hands-open-300x204.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hands-open-768x522.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<p><strong>Come to me,\u00a0all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.\u00a0Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,\u00a0for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.\u00a0For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.<\/strong> Matthew 11:28-30<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>What a great promise Jesus Christ has offered us:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><em>Come to me,\u00a0all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p>From the November 15 devotional reading, I offered two considerations from this well-known verse:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The invitation itself: \u201ccome to me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Jesus desires to make Himself know to us in our time need.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The intended recipients of the invitation: \u201call who are weary and burdened.\u201d Jesus invites us to reach out to Him by faith to find rest from all the weightiness this fallen world forces us to carry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Today, we consider the challenge that accompanied the promise, and the amazing and necessary result.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>The challenge.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Following the invitation and promise, Jesus said (v. 29),\u00a0<em>\u201ctake my yoke upon you and learn from me.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Yes,\u00a0Jesus has a yoke, but not in the sense that one may think. The idea of \u201cyoke\u201d in this passage becomes influenced by the term \u201clearn.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0In the Jewish culture of Jesus\u2019 day, a \u201cyoke\u201d was not only referenced in agriculture (a heavy wooden collar or mantle used to direct large animals), but also in the field of teaching and learning.\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes a student would metaphorically speak of being under the yoke of a teacher (as the yoke would represent the guidance and direction from the teacher to the student or disciple).\u00a0\u00a0Careful obedience to the truth of Jesus becomes the process of taking upon our lives His yoke.\u00a0\u00a0This idea of \u201clearn\u201d is a form of the word \u201cmathetes\u201d, meaning a disciple or learner.\u00a0\u00a0So, the challenge encourages us to take upon ourselves the yoke of genuinely and relationally following after Jesus \u2013 just as He intended for His original disciples.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>As we consider being yoked with Christ, consider the blessings<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Jesus said, \u201cyou will find rest for your souls.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0What a marvelous prospect for each of us who fight daily with the stressors of life.\u00a0\u00a0When we receive His yoke, which reflects HIS Loving lordship over us, His yoke becomes one of rest.\u00a0\u00a0In the invitation, Jesus said that if we come to Him, we will find rest \u2013 a reprieve from labor.\u00a0\u00a0This is the calm and refreshing freedom from striving.\u00a0\u00a0Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) observed of this passage, \u201cwe are to come to Him and learn from Him this rest that He is.\u201d This rest represents the ease and peace of being under His care and direction.\u00a0\u00a0So, the yoke of Christ calms us and gives us rest as we discover in our following of Him all we need for life and godliness.\u00a0\u00a0The yoke of Christ then moves us into a deeper experience of His gentleness and humility.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus said (v. 30) \u201cMy yoke is easy, and my burden is light.\u201d This quality of the yoke is the kindliness and the humility that represents the lowliness of the heart of Jesus &#8211; the<em>\u00a0heart that rules the universe yet desires to serve and meet our needs<\/em>. Being yoked with Christ brings rest, and a journey that is easy and light.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Do these words seem too out of reach or unrealistic?\u00a0\u00a0If so, look back at this promise of Jesus again and again.\u00a0\u00a0Prayerfully receive His promise by faith.\u00a0\u00a0Truly desire to be \u201cyoked\u201d with Christ as His follower.\u00a0\u00a0And watch the stressors of life fade into a real experience of walking in the rest of our Savior. Live under His yoke and free from the enslavement of the stressful yoke of this world.<\/p>\n\n<p>BLESSINGS.<\/p>\n\n<p>READ<\/p>\n\n<p>Ready Matthew 11:28-30 several times, and rejoice that Jesus not only carries your burdens, He carries you.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Come to me,\u00a0all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.\u00a0Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,\u00a0for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.\u00a0For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 What a great promise Jesus Christ &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/november-16-easy-and-light\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">November 16, Easy and Light<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-todays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1842"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3449,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842\/revisions\/3449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}