144 - Come to Jesus and Enjoy Rest#
144 - Come to Jesus and Enjoy Rest
(JP text ~ Sister Qingqing organized)
Brothers and sisters, peace! Today's text is from Matthew 11:28-30.
The topic we are sharing is "Come to Jesus and Enjoy Rest."
If you have found the Bible, please read with me the content of Matthew 11:28-30. Let's read together, starting from verse 28.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Amen!
Let's start with a prayer:
Heavenly Father! We thank and praise you! Thank you! At the beginning of this week, we can praise and worship you in your presence! Lord, please especially bless every brother and sister who comes before you today seeking you. Lead us during this time. Lord, when we seek you, may you send down your provision from heaven to us, renewing our thoughts through your word, helping us to see this world with your eyes and to think about all the problems in life with your thoughts. Place this wisdom in our hearts and guide us in the time ahead. Thank you and praise you, Lord! In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray! Amen! Hallelujah!
What is rest?
Rest is not doing nothing, and rest is not sleeping. Rest means that you see the power of Jesus and you do things with the power of Jesus. A person who has rest is not a restless person; they are often at peace. When encountering any situation, you will see that this person is calm and unhurried. We see that Jesus has this ability to rest because He Himself is rest. Amen!
When you find Jesus, you are actually in rest. Therefore, living in rest is extremely important. Especially in today's high-pressure environment, we need the rest of Jesus Christ even more. In life, at home, and at work, we all need a heart of rest to face our lives.
Thus, we hope to work and do things under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is quite different from working on our own. After we believe in Jesus, you can live by relying on yourself; that’s fine. However, you can also come to Jesus and live with His power. In this way, you will find that it is completely different.
Jesus did not say that we come to a certain denomination or to a certain church to enjoy rest, nor did He say that we should find someone to give us rest! Some might say, "But if I want peace and quiet, I can listen to some music, play some very soothing light music, and my heart can calm down temporarily."
That's right; does this method have some effect? Yes, it has a little effect, especially when your heart is restless. You play some light, soothing music, and then light some incense to help your mindset calm down immediately. However, there is a problem: when the music stops, when you go back out to face life, does it return? Is it the same as before? So, that is not the rest that God wants to give us. The rest that Jesus Christ wants to give us is that you can have His peace in any environment. Amen!
Thank the Lord! This is different from the rest we think of. When we come before Jesus, He says: He is the way, the truth, and the life, right? When we come to Jesus, what can He give us? He did not say, "Come to me, and I will give you more laws," nor did He say, "Come to me, and I will make you busy." He did not say, "Come to me, and I will make you work harder." No. Jesus gives His rest to those who come before Him. Amen!
Under the law, for example, under the Ten Commandments, when you come under the Ten Commandments, you have to do many things. For example, our God said in the Old Testament law, "Because I am holy, you must be holy," so you must strive to be holy!
Then you must do this, you must do that, and only then will I bless you! You see, under the Old Testament law, you must put in a lot of effort and toil to obtain God's blessing! But that situation is still very rare.
So, here Jesus says: "Come to me." He does not want you to toil or be restless; rather, He wants you to come before Him and enjoy His rest. Amen! In fact, today, many believers in Jesus may feel that when they are restless, just sitting in church can help them calm down. This is because the work of Jesus is already present in the church. Amen! When they sit in Jesus, they can enjoy Jesus' rest. Amen!
In the past, before I believed in the Lord, I also felt that when my heart was restless, sitting in church could calm my heart. This is the reason we seek Jesus; Jesus can give us His rest. Amen!
A person under the law strives to please God, carrying a heavy burden. So, today we wonder why we always talk about the law and grace? Because those who have not accepted Jesus live under the law, but they live under their own laws. Everyone has a lot of pressure and responsibilities in life.
As a man in the family, doesn’t he have to bear many responsibilities? Because he has to bear the expenses and burdens of the family. As a wife, she has to take on many things at home. If you are in business, as a boss, you have to consider many things. All of these are burdens. When no one can share them with you, you have to think about everything yourself. So, this is the burden we all carry. It can be said that this is a characteristic of those living under the law.
Today, what is the good news? Jesus says: If you feel that you have a heavy burden or that you are tired and anxious, then come to Him, and He can give you rest. Amen! First, we need to think about one thing: when you come before Jesus, He does not want to condemn you. Jesus does not say how useless you are. When you come before Him, He wants to give you His rest! He wants to give you His peace.
So, no matter what kind of mood you come to Jesus with, whether you are anxious or under a lot of pressure, when you come here, when you go out again, Jesus will give you His rest. Amen! This is our Lord Jesus! Anyone who comes to seek Jesus, Jesus treats them this way.
Under the Old Testament law, besides the Ten Commandments, the Jews had 613 laws and regulations, but God's intention is that everything is actually included in the Ten Commandments. However, people cannot keep the Ten Commandments. But thank the Lord! God has given us the firstfruits, Jesus Christ, who fulfilled the law for us. Jesus has given us the fruits of what He has accomplished today, so that we, who cannot keep the law, can receive the blessings of the law. That is to say: this is not what you should have received, but Jesus has accomplished it, and He has freely given you His blessing today.
From the book of Exodus in the Bible until the time before Jesus went to the cross, the Israelites lived under the law for about 1500 years. Wasn't that exhausting? They desperately tried to live better, they desperately tried to keep the law, they desperately worked hard to please God, and in the end, they found that they had all failed. So, you see, in today's society, are people doing the same things as the Israelites? They just are not under the Ten Commandments. But they are still under their own laws, unable to break free.
So many people are desperately trying to live better, to live more joyfully, to live more peacefully, to bear less. In the end, they become busier and burden themselves even more. In fact, this is to say that without Jesus, we are all in this vicious cycle, and we have no rest. We feel very bitter and tired, and this is why so many people suffer from depression and why so many people commit suicide today. They cannot bear such immense pressure, and they have lost their rest. So what should they do? They can only come before Jesus.
Jesus has a calling for you. What Jesus means is that if you are under the law or under your own pressures, under your various problems, and you feel tired and distressed, then come to Jesus! Amen! No matter what age you are, you can come to Jesus, and He will give you His rest. Hallelujah! This is what Jesus wants to give us; He says you should take my yoke and learn from me. When we come before Jesus, He will give us His peace and His rest today. Amen!
So, God first wants to change our hearts. God places His rest in our hearts. Amen! Have you noticed that when a person's heart changes, for example, when their heart is filled with rest, the outside environment does not affect them?
That's right. But if their heart is restless, then even a little environmental influence can have a huge impact on them. So, this is what we say Jesus wants to solve: the problem in our hearts. When our hearts have rest, then other parts will begin to change. Amen!
In the book of 3 John, it tells us: Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. When your heart is filled with rest, you will show a posture of rest in your outward life. Amen! So, in our souls, what we need is the life of Jesus Christ.
Today, when Jesus speaks these words, He has a background. At the beginning of Matthew 11, Jesus called the twelve disciples and sent them to preach and teach in various cities. Jesus also performed many miracles and wonders in those cities, but unfortunately, the people in those cities did not repent. You see, Jesus preached well, right? But those people did not repent, so Jesus began to rebuke them. He said, "Do you know that if these miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago?" At that time, Jesus said: Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I thank you because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
Then Jesus went on to say, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. Why did Jesus send His disciples to preach the gospel? Why do we need to preach the gospel today? Don't say it is a command from Jesus; that would turn it into law. Why do we need to preach the gospel? To save people.
However, when we tell others, "I want to tell you about Jesus; I want to save you," how do you think they will respond? "I don't want your salvation." In our hearts, we think this person needs Jesus too much. Those without Jesus live under the law, under burdens, and under various pressures, which has nothing to do with economic wealth.
Many people are wealthy, but their hearts are filled with problems. There are many who seem to have no problems in front of others, but in reality, they are suffering greatly behind the scenes. But these people can only be freed by Jesus. So Jesus says: "Go out! Preach the gospel!"
The disciples went out and performed many miracles. We see many people healed. But these people still did not believe in Jesus. So what Jesus means is: "You are all so troubled and weary; come to me! I will give you rest." Amen!
Think about it: when we believe in Jesus, Jesus gives us all His authority and power. At that time, it is as if Jesus has given you everything He has. When you encounter problems in life, you can use the name of Jesus to overcome all circumstances. You no longer need to be like before, worrying about what to do, feeling distressed and troubled. You just need to rely on Jesus.
In fact, Jesus helps us and saves us by letting us live in a way that is not so exhausting, so painful, and so hopeless. He hopes you will live in His rest. Amen! Many times, we feel uneasy because we are influenced by our thoughts and emotions. Why do we feel restless? Because we cannot control many things. Why does Jesus not get angry? Because He has answers to all things.
So Jesus says, "Come to me, and I will give you rest." Jesus wants us to become rest. Amen! Jesus does not say, "Come to me and take rest from me!" He does not say, "Dig for rest!" He says, "Come to Him, and He will let you have rest." So Jesus wants to work in you to give you that rest. Hallelujah! Therefore, coming to Jesus is actually to enjoy His rest.
I am gentle and humble in heart. You see, such a person is someone we all want to be with, right? A gentle and humble person. We do not want to be with a proud and arrogant person because we find it hard to approach such people.
He says, "I am gentle and humble in heart." But the gentleness and humility of Jesus Christ are different from human gentleness and humility. Gentleness does not mean that everyone can trample on you at will; that is not gentleness. What is that? Many people say that is weakness, meaning that if someone slaps you, it is okay; if someone beats you, it is okay. That is not gentleness. What does Jesus mean by gentleness?
He has His rights; He has an identity within Himself. You see, many verses in the Bible cannot be understood without Jesus' words. For example, if someone slaps your left cheek, what should you do? Ah, you should turn the other cheek and let them slap that one too. If someone forces you to go one mile, what should you do? You should go with them two miles. If you look at this and think, then Christians become a group of weak and powerless people who are easily oppressed.
Because many people read this passage and do not understand it, they see that believers in Jesus say, "If I slap you on the left cheek, you should turn the right cheek." Then if I take your shirt, you should let me take your coat too. If I ask you to go one mile, you should go two miles. This becomes a distorted doctrine.
But what Jesus means is: do not argue with the wicked. That is the meaning! What He means is, for example, if this wicked person says, "You must go one mile with me, or I will not let you go," but Jesus is gentle. How is Jesus gentle? He goes far beyond one mile. Jesus says, "I will go two miles with you!" You see, isn't this gentleness?
He does not lower His identity; He is far beyond your unreasonable demands. You walk one mile, and in His heart, He has already walked several miles! Amen! If you want His shirt, you see, when taking off the shirt, you must first take off the coat, right? What does He mean? "Okay! Take the coat too!" Because He is abundant. Amen!
This is our Jesus. His gentleness does not mean that people can treat Him however they want. You see, there are many times when people want to stone Him to death, but Jesus calmly walks through them. Do you know how great that authority and rest is? Those people were furious and wanted to stone Him, yet He walked right through them, and no one threw a stone at Him. This is our Jesus. In front of such opposition and under such pressure, He possesses God's rest! This requires greater strength. So gentleness means you can control your own strength; that is the power of gentleness!
Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ Himself possesses this strength. He is gentle and humble. So we see in the world, when a person is criticized by others, what will their reaction be? For example, if you, dear brothers and sisters, are criticized by others, what is your first reaction when others point out your shortcomings? Do you think, "Oh, great! You finally pointed out my shortcomings!" Is that how it is?
What is our first reaction?
"Who are you to say that about me?" Ah, ah, ah, is it like this? This is a normal reaction. Why is it like this? Because it is simple: when you see a person reacting this way, they are actually trying to protect their own exposed shortcomings.
So this is a very important point. The real reaction should be: "Thank you for telling me; thank you for correcting me." This is our reaction. So when you see a person, because you pointed out their shortcomings, you are not maliciously attacking them; you are just quietly pointing out their shortcomings. "Hey brother, if you can improve in this area, you will be even better." If he immediately says, "Oh, how can you say that about me? You look down on me; you want to criticize me," then you see, if this person reacts like this, you know that there is a great unrest within them.
So you usually see that such a person is a proud person, and they are also the one who is most deeply hurt. Because I have read some books, including in the Bible, there is actually a principle that generally speaking, proud people often say, "I am this, I am that," actually to cover up their own shortcomings!
Anyone who is proud and easily angered is usually extremely lacking in a sense of security. So you see, when Jesus was criticized, did everyone accept Him? Many did not accept Him! But did Jesus argue with them? No.
Do you know how they criticized Jesus at that time? The most hurtful thing they said was, "We are not born of fornication," which means, "Jesus, stop saying your nonsense; you are an illegitimate child." We are not born of fornication, which is what it means. Because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
In fact, this matter was later known by people, but those who do not accept the Holy Spirit cannot understand it. They cannot understand. So they think, "Oh, your mother must not know who she had you with, so you are an illegitimate child." You know, for a person, this is the most serious blow, right? But Jesus did not argue with these people. Jesus did not get angry or defend Himself because He knew where He came from and where He was going. Amen!
Jesus' gentleness and humility are manifested here! So, brothers and sisters, we need to learn to be like Jesus, to have a space in our hearts, a huge space that belongs to God, to accommodate the words of these people, and then Jesus does is to have compassion for these people.
So today, when you are in a difficult situation, if someone points out your shortcomings, of course, they should not do it in public, making you feel worthless. We should not do that. Should we point out the shortcomings of our brothers? We should point them out privately. If someone tells you, at that moment, do not pretend to be humble, and do not be proud; just accept it humbly. Do not say, "Oh, I have already dealt with this problem."
In fact, many times, we do not know where our own problems are, so we cannot have Jesus' humility, and our hearts can immediately receive rest. We should not intentionally cover up our own problems in our own way; instead, we should expose them before Jesus and let Jesus give us His rest. Amen!
In fact, we also know that those who truly want to correct you are the ones who care about you. Amen! They already know what your personality is like, so they bring it up for your good. So there is no need to maintain a lofty image in front of this person. In this way, we can truly love one another, right?
Now, let’s look at verse 30: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Do you all know what a yoke is? Why does Jesus use this metaphor? Remember, at this time, Jesus had just sent the twelve disciples out to preach the gospel. His time of preaching was not very long. Before Jesus did the work of God, what was He doing?
He was a carpenter, so He must have made yokes for people. What is a yoke? It is a wooden frame used for plowing, placed on the necks of two oxen. In this case, the two oxen must have a common goal! If one goes east and the other goes west, they cannot move and will become very tired. Unless the two walk in step together, they will both find it easy!
So what Jesus is talking about is this yoke. He means, "You should take my yoke upon you; come and walk with me!" Amen! If you feel tired, troubled, and have many problems, come and walk with Jesus! Let Jesus share the yoke with you. Amen! At that time, we will become relaxed! Remember, in the past, Jesus used this metaphor to tell us that if you feel tired, do you need someone to help you? That person can only be Jesus. Let Jesus help you and first give you His rest from your heart. Amen!
We think that the yoke is for work, but in fact, Jesus says, "Come to me and enjoy rest!" Do you see that, brothers and sisters? Many times, our thoughts are different from Jesus' thoughts. We think that putting on the yoke means starting to work, but Jesus means that putting on the yoke means starting to rest! Hallelujah!
Let’s share the second point: Come to Jesus and Enjoy Rest.
We just talked about the first point, which is that Jesus is our rest. So what should we do? Come to Him and enjoy His rest! Jesus is never flustered or anxious. Many times, we feel like He is late, but in fact, He is always on time. He is the Lord who supplies food on time. Amen!
Today, how do we apply this in our lives? One time, the disciples were on a boat with Jesus. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat, and then a storm arose, and the waves were very high, and the boat was filling with water. The disciples were very anxious and panicked. In the end, what did they do? They woke Jesus up and said, "Teacher, don’t you care that we are going to drown?" At that moment, they began to be restless. But in that environment, Jesus still had rest.
How wonderful, brothers and sisters! So this is what we are saying. You see, in the face of that storm, do you know what Peter was doing? He was a fisherman. Do fishermen fear storms? Do fishermen fear storms? Yes! Don’t say they don’t fear; that’s not true. They all fear storms! But isn’t he very experienced? Did Jesus fish? No.
He is not a fisherman! But Jesus has the ability to fish. Amen! He can also control the wind and waves. So you see, in that environment, when the disciples first saw the storm, they used whose method? Their own method. Since the boat was taking on water, they tried to bail it out. But Jesus said, "Come to me!" Don’t use your method anymore.
So at the beginning of this year, I hope that our brothers and sisters, at the start of the new year, will stop using the methods you used in the past to handle things and start using Jesus’ methods! This method allows you to be in rest. In fact, the disciples desperately used their own methods, and in the end, was it futile? They still could not solve the problem. At that moment, the disciples remembered, "Teacher, please get up!" What was the purpose of the disciples waking Jesus up?
It is actually very simple. The disciples wanted Jesus to come and participate in their environment and help them bail out the water! Isn’t that the meaning? But when Jesus got up, what did He mean? "You should share the yoke with me!"
Don’t use your method anymore; give this problem to me and let me take responsibility for you! Then after Jesus got up, did He solve the water problem? Did He solve the problem of the boat taking on water? He solved it, and what was Jesus’ solution? It was complete and would not cause problems again. Amen!
Think about it: if we used human methods, and then Peter said, "Jesus, look, there is a basin; hurry up and bail it out," would that method work? It wouldn’t work, brothers and sisters. You will find that many times, we use our own methods, just like Peter. We desperately try to bail the water out of the boat, but it seems futile. In fact, at that moment, what you need to do is use Jesus’ method. Jesus’ method is very simple. After He stood up, He said to the sea and the waves, "Be still!" And everything was resolved! Amen!
This is the meaning of sharing a yoke with Jesus. Bring your problems, your burdens, and your pressures to Jesus. Then use His wisdom to deal with the problems. Amen! So today, when we encounter problems in life, for example, if someone is sick, we can use this phrase, right? "Evil spirit, come out of this person!" Isn’t that using Jesus’ method? In the past, when we saw someone sick, we would say, "Oh, I’m so scared!" Can this method scare the demons out? No, it cannot. So we need to use the name of Jesus: "In the name of the Lord Jesus, evil spirit, come out of this person!"
We do not negotiate with it. This is Jesus’ rest. Amen! So when we come to seek Jesus, we face our lives in this way. Hallelujah! Recently, many testimonies have come back, most of which are testimonies of healing. In fact, we know that there are many instances of healing in the Bible. Amen!
In fact, the methods they used were very simple: In the name of Jesus Christ, declare your situation. That is enough. Because when Jesus walked on earth, He used this method. Amen!
When we see some people released from darkness and from the power of the devil, that person is filled with rest. When Jesus cast the demon out of that person, did that person gain rest? It is that simple, brothers and sisters. So we see this is Jesus’ yoke; Jesus’ burden is light. Amen!
The residents of Gerasenes were truly unfortunate. After they saw Jesus cast the demons out of that person, they said, "Jesus, please leave this place!" So this is the regret of the people in that place! Although Jesus was healing diseases, these people wanted to drive Jesus away.
You remember, our Lord is definitely not the kind of Lord who is clingy. The Holy Spirit is different from evil spirits. Evil spirits enter your body and control you, making it impossible for you to walk on your own, just like that person possessed by demons. But the Holy Spirit is not like that. The Holy Spirit obeys your will. If you want Him to help you, He will help you. If you do not want Him to help you, He cannot help you. That is the Holy Spirit. So when Jesus was told by the Gerasenes, "Please leave us," what did Jesus do? Jesus left.
So brothers and sisters, this is our Jesus. He never forces you to do anything. Today, when you accept Jesus, He will never force you. Amen! He only hopes that you will willingly follow Him, and then He will give you His rest. So after Jesus was rejected in Gerasenes, He got back on the boat and returned to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. After arriving on the other side, something happened. When He arrived in Capernaum, a man came to Him. This all happened in one day. You see, so many things happened in one day.
A man named Jairus said, "My daughter is dying; please lay your hands on her." You see, isn’t the problem getting bigger? At this time, the child was about to die, and Jairus came to ask Jesus, "Jesus, please hurry and lay your hands on my child!" Jesus said, "Okay, I will go with you." On the way, another incident occurred. Do you remember what it was?
It was the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Think about it; I am demonstrating the situation in our hearts here because we are talking about rest! You think Jairus is following Jesus, and at this moment, shouldn’t Jairus have rest? But on the way, a woman suddenly came out. This woman, who had been bleeding for twelve years, pressed through the crowd and touched Jesus, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
At that moment, Jesus suddenly stopped and said, "Who touched me?" Oh, He is not moving! You think Jesus suddenly stopped and said, "Who touched me?" Who is the most anxious at this moment? Jairus said, "Don’t worry about who touched you; hurry up! My daughter is dying!" Isn’t there a lack of rest in his heart? So you see, at that moment, Jesus turned to the woman who touched Him and said, "Daughter, take heart; your faith has healed you." From that moment, the woman was healed. Amen!
Look at the previous verse, Matthew 9:22. It seems that Jesus is not even considering Jairus’ daughter who is about to die. He turns to the woman and says, "Daughter, take heart; your faith has healed you!" At that moment, this woman was healed, which means she was healed both physically and in her heart. We have been talking about this heart issue! Think about it, when Jesus does this, do the disciples see it? They all see it, including calming the storm and casting the two thousand demons out of the Gerasenes man. The disciples saw all these things. But you see, in the incident of calming the storm, Jesus rebuked the disciples, saying, "Where is your faith? Why are you so afraid?"
This tells us that Jesus is not saying, "You need to have faith; you need to have faith." That is not the meaning. Jesus is saying, "You have seen me do such great things; do you still not have faith in me?" Isn’t this directed at the disciples? The disciples saw the Gerasenes man, and then they happened to encounter Jairus. So Jesus wanted Jairus to have rest in his heart.
So while He was on the way, when the woman touched Jesus and was healed, Jesus also wanted to heal the woman’s heart problem. Because she touched Jesus secretly from behind, right? She originally thought, "If I get healed, I will leave." Because a person like her really should not appear in the crowd.
According to the law, an unclean woman should not be in the crowd. But she appeared. So at that moment, she originally thought she would just sneak away, but Jesus wanted to comfort her heart and give true rest to this woman. So He said to her, "Daughter, take heart; your faith has healed you; go in peace." Amen!
In the Old Testament, could people see the face of God? Under the Old Testament law, anyone who saw God’s face would be killed. But this woman did not intend to see God’s face, yet Jesus turned to her and said, "Daughter, take heart." Isn’t that face to face? Brothers and sisters, this is grace!
Under grace, Jesus does not turn His back on you; Jesus is always facing you. Amen! He hopes you will walk forward with Him, following in His footsteps. So we see that Jesus also answered this woman’s inner problem. At that moment, coincidentally, someone came and reported, "Jairus, don’t bother the teacher anymore." What happened? "Your daughter is dead." Think about it; at this moment, how does Jairus feel? Isn’t his heart restless?
But you see, Jesus, although someone said, "Your daughter is dead; why bother the teacher?" This means, "Don’t go anymore; it’s useless now!" Did this group of people lose their rest? But did Jesus go? Jesus went. It seemed to people that Jesus was late, but Jesus entered the house and raised the girl from the dead! Amen! This is our Jesus. He never wastes time. Amen!
It seems to us that He delays, but in Jesus, His timing is always accurate. Amen! So for us, many times, our hearts are like Jairus’, and that is why we lose rest. "Oh, Jesus Christ, hurry up! When will you fulfill my prayer? When will you accomplish this matter?" We are always anxious.
But remember, brothers and sisters, God will let us see better things at the right time. Amen! Think about it: if his daughter was only critically ill, and Jesus laid hands on her and healed her, then Jairus would think, "Jesus, you are just a doctor." Next time, everyone would think, "As long as I have a problem, I will find Jesus to lay hands on me." But if she died and Jesus did not go, wouldn’t some people give up? Jesus is telling him one thing: He is the way, the truth, and the life. Amen!
In fact, this tells us something: the one who walks with you today is the Lord who is resurrected from the dead. He is the Lord who controls life. Amen! Even if someone tells you, "It’s over; there is no hope; there is no result," in Jesus, you must have His rest! There is still hope! Hallelujah!
So this is our Jesus! Today, our God has placed His Spirit in you! Therefore, I wish that our brothers and sisters, throughout our lives, will share a yoke with Christ. What is a yoke? As we said earlier, it is a wooden frame placed on two oxen. Generally speaking, it is an old ox leading a young ox, a trainer leading a trainee. Why is it an old one leading a young one?
Why not use two young ones?
If you use two young ones, you can be sure that they will not be able to plow. You remember, young oxen are untrained; they do whatever they want. If you put them together, you can be sure they will fight, right?
So, in our journey of faith, we may encounter this situation. New believers, you can be sure, are often very impatient and sometimes jump around, which is normal. Because they are young oxen, they have not been trained. When you see that old ox, what is the characteristic of the old ox? It has gone through many things because it was also led as a young ox. Amen! It does not matter if we have been believers for a short time; just look at those who have been believers for a long time and see how they walk. Just follow them forward. Amen! In other words, when two oxen are under one yoke, just watch how the old ox walks, and you can follow it forward. It’s that simple.
So, brothers and sisters, if we are young oxen today, do not look around and think you can do whatever you want. That will make you feel very tired. You should look at the old ox. Do not be anxious and busy. First, rest in God’s presence and seek the will of Jesus Christ. Amen!
Because He is always calm and composed. He is not influenced by others. Everything He does is pleasing to our Heavenly Father. So you see, that old ox sometimes walks and then stops. After stopping, it may stop because it hears a bird call. It is very calm and composed, but it does not delay its journey. Amen!
Because it knows where its goal is; it is very clear. It knows how long it will take to get there, so it has already had the result in its heart. When it hears the bird call, it can enjoy it. But if the young ox does not know this, why does it stop? Just like Jairus, "Oh, why did you stop?" He will feel anxious and restless. So I wish that our brothers and sisters, in life, when you see Jesus in the Bible, think about how Jesus enjoys this rest in such an environment, and then face your life with this rest. Amen!
Many times, we feel restless because we are young and particularly anxious. We cannot relax and cannot stop. In fact, many times, stopping allows you to see the scenery along the way. Amen! If you are always too anxious, you may miss many beautiful things. So, thank the Lord!
I wish that our brothers and sisters apply this rest of Jesus in your lives. Amen! Moreover, this rest will bring blessings from God to every aspect of your life! Therefore, I wish that brothers and sisters, at work or when starting family life, first determine whether what you are doing has rest in it. If you think about this matter and your heart starts racing or you feel uneasy, then temporarily stop. Amen!
Before deciding on all matters, I wish that our brothers and sisters learn to pray to God first, just like David and others, praying to God in everything. Then, when living in the family, it is the same.
In our book of Proverbs, there is much wisdom that tells us what? It says that eating rich food at night makes the family restless; it is better to eat some vegetables and have a harmonious family. What does this mean? If we eat vegetables and let the family have rest, peace, and joy, then let’s eat vegetables. The point is not what to eat. The point is that you should know that rest is extremely important. Amen!
In rest, you can bring unseen multiplication to your work and life! So brothers and sisters, we need to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In the new year, I wish that our brothers and sisters follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You should often meditate on how Jesus faced so many problems in life, but every time He could solve them because He believed in the Holy Spirit living in Him. Amen!
He believes that the will of the Father is always good, and He believes that the Father will never abandon Him. Today, this word is also given to you. Our Heavenly Father always watches over you. Amen! So the Holy Spirit is always willing to guide you, not to let you be too anxious or too restless, but to let you calm down, rest in His presence, and first enjoy His rest before going to work with the power of Jesus. Amen!
So thank the Lord! You should follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which means first seeing the power of Jesus in the Bible, and then in everything, through prayer, giving thanks to God, and believing in God. Even if the situation is very bad now, God will definitely bring you a correct result. God can definitely turn this bad situation around because His word is faithful. Amen!
If you feel very tired, very distressed, and have many problems, come to Jesus! He is willing to give you His rest. Amen! Please remember, any heavy burdens, fears, or things that make you feel uneasy do not come from God. You should learn to live in God’s rest. Amen!
Let’s pray together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise you! Thank you for giving us this time to share your own words. We know we especially need your rest, because many times, we are like that young ox, unable to calm down, losing our rest, or often unable to be peaceful. But today we know that in any environment, you are at rest because you believe in the will of the Father. You believe even more in the Father’s power. You believe that the Holy Spirit fills you, and you can do all things because, Jesus, I know your heart is loving us. You want us to come before you and enjoy your rest. Because we have no rest, we need to come before you. You can make us rest; you can give us your rest.
Let our brothers and sisters, in this week’s life and work, not be influenced by our surrounding environment. You have the power to give me strength to overcome this environment. I do not fear this environment because Jesus, you have given me authority. I can command this unrest to leave in the name of Jesus Christ, just as you used the power of the Holy Spirit. You have given me this authority and this power today.
So I willingly want to live like Jesus, to live like Jesus this week, to live with His way, to speak with His way, and to face the people around us with His humble and gentle way. Thank you, Jesus, for giving us this word. We are willing to come before you every day to enjoy your rest. Thank you and praise you! Thank you for loving us so much! In the name of our Lord Jesus, we pray! Amen!