“Come to me, all you mourners and carriers of burdens, and I shall give you peace. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, as I am easy (peaceful) and gentle of heart, and you shall find peace in your souls. For my yoke is pleasant and my burden is light.” (Matt 11-28-30 Aramaic Bible)
It’s a promise only Christ can fully deliver. It’s a promise few believe to the fullest.
Life involves struggles both real and imaginative. No matter who we are, everyone has to deal with attacks from the enemy. The level of emotional and spiritual success we experience in our life is determined by our worldview.
Whether you are religious or hold an atheistic view, you have a worldview. A worldview is simply how we look at life, or reality. Most people’s view of reality is based on what they can see, touch, feel, and to some extent what they experience. However, the interpretation of those experiences, and how we deal with them, are all directly and firmly rooted in our worldview. In other words, you cannot exist and not have a worldview.
“Christ is telling us that we can become like our master. That’s the purpose of the gospel and of the Holy Spirit.”
Unfortunately, many people’s view of reality brings them anxiety, fear, worry, hopelessness, and ultimately depression. When Christ came to this world, he came to “set captives free.” He certainly was not talking about physical bondage or even physical pain. Instead, he introduced the world to ultimately reality, also called the kingdom of God, or, the kingdom of heaven. It is in the kingdom where reality and true life exists. Life exists in the spiritual/eternal realm. The physical will die while the spirit will live forever. Many grasp onto this teaching and surrender to it. Others, meanwhile, fight with it all their lives and can’t ever overcome their spiritual hardships.
The way of Christ is to bring you to spiritual maturity so that you may be made into a complete and whole person the way Christ has designed you to be. Paul refers to Christ’s teachings as the “Way.” That’s because the teachings of Christ are about answering life to overcome the spiritual and emotional attacks we all face. Christ’s goal is that we be “mature, complete, and not lacking in anything.”
On the other hand, the evil one’s desire is to make you incomplete, immature, and lacking in everything. It is a battle that has been raging since the beginning of mankind. If the evil one can rob us of our joy, then he becomes victorious.
So, how does one deal with the real struggles of life? It begins with an understanding that Christ came to give us an abundant life described in John 10:10. Not abundance in material things, but in the spirit and soul. When Christ invited the anxious, depressed, and worrisome, he gave them a promise. That promise is you will find rest for your soul. But in order to find that rest, one must take up that “yoke.” In Jesus’ time, the “yoke” was the teaching and application of that teaching taught by the rabbi or teacher. When students took upon the yoke of the teacher, they took upon themselves and applied the teachings of that teacher. They became a disciple, or one who is disciplined by the teachings of their master. This discipleship is so important that Jesus said “No disciple is greater than his master, and no servant than his lord. It fulfills the disciple to become like his master and the servant like his lord. If they call the master of the house Beelzavow, so much so the children of the house.” (Matt 10:24-25 Aramaic Bible)
“In short, we must surrender our spirit, mind, and body to Christ. As our master, he demands nothing less.”
Go ahead and read that again. Christ is telling us that we can become like our master. That’s the purpose of the gospel and of the Holy Spirit. The way of Christ is more than the crucifixion: It is about enabling you with the same Spirit as Christ so you can become mature, complete, and not lacking in anything!
Reaching that stage is a process. But it is a process that demands complete surrendering to Christ and his teachings. We struggle in life, become hopeless, anxious, and depressed because we are not looking at reality through the lens of the Spirit, but through our own polluted vision that has been shaped by what we think is reality. However, it is a reality that is most often based on lies and deception from the enemy. What makes it even worse is that we actually become so comfortable in that falsehood and lie that we resist attempts to change it.
Jesus promised we would overcome. It’s a promise not for the afterlife, but for this world! Do you want to overcome? Jesus’ yoke is easy and light in the fact that it’s not complicated. However, it is a complete sacrifice and surrendering of everything in our life including our way of thinking, moving, and living. In short, we must surrender our spirit, mind, and body to Christ. As our master, he demands nothing less.
Recognize the reality in which Christ has called you to live. That is the absolute starting point for any disciple who wants to overcome the life of anxiety, fear, and other attacks from the enemy. Once you’ve recognized that reality, begin building you house on the rocky foundation of his teaching and the eternal realm.
It’s a promise of peace and fearlessness that no dark power can overtake.
LAMAD 
Leave a comment