Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
God once again is asking Jeremiah to do something that is definitely going to make him stand out among the people of Judah. I am pretty sure that everyone in the surrounding area and nations are getting to know this "strange man of God."
This time God told him to put a yoke around his neck to convey the message that Judah and the other nations around her needed to submit and surrender to the "yoke" of Babylon. Jeremiah delivers this same message to the ambassadors from other nations who had come to form an alliance, to King Zedekiah and also to the priests and the people. He told them that the Lord had given all the nations into the hand of his servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and would serve him. If they refused to submit to the king of Babylon's yoke they would die. If they accepted the yoke, they would live. The false prophets were giving Israel hope, but Jeremiah told the truth.
Jeremiah was telling the people to surrender and live. Surrender and live! Take His yoke and live...because make no mistake we are all in bondage in many ways. Be in bondage to the One who can bring blessing from bondage. Be yoked with the One who does not want us to bear it alone. Be yoked with the One who gives sufficient grace for every time of need. All other kinds of yokes and bondage bring death. Life is full of grief, sadness, depression, discouragement, betrayal, illness and death. It is wearying. Jesus said this In Matthew 11:28-30.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”--Matthew 11:28-30
Go to Him, Jesus, and find rest. Take His offer and find rest. Take his yoke...walk with Him daily and learn from Him. Behold Him. Put aside your own ways for His. Allow Him to show you how to live...His commandments are not burdensome...they are for our good and His glory. We can trust Him. He loved us so much that He gave His life for us. He gives us life abundantly here and in eternity.
Girls, what is most taxing...most wearying in my life is me, myself and I. What Pastor Lloyd calls the "trinity of stupidity." It is what causes the majority of my problems. God wants to take that burden from us...He wants us to take off the yoke of self and put on His Son, Jesus. Know that the Lord wants to take from you only those things that cause you unrest and weariness or keep you from drawing close to Him. Remember that when you find yourself in a battle with God. I love what J.H. Jowett says:
"The fatal mistake for the believer is to seek to bear life's load in a single collar. God never intended a man to carry his burden alone. Christ therefore deals only in yokes! A yoke is a neck harness for two, and the Lord himself pleads to be One of the two. He wants to share the labor of any galling task. The secret of peace and victory in the Christian life is found in putting off the taxing collar of “self” and accepting the Master's relaxing “yoke.” "
Love
Mom
