LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 11:28, “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.” Jesus

 

I have been trying to process our trip to Israel since we have been home. I have been trying to picture Bethlehem as it was when Jesus was born; it was definitely different from what we experienced. I have tried to imagine Mary and Joseph coming into the “little” town full of people there because of the registration required and finding no room to stay in. It was obviously much different than all those who tried to stop us in order to sell us “stuff”. It had to have been much different from the political challenges present there now.

 

I have tried to think back about standing in the cave or stable that the baby was born. Everything was too rushed to even consider that we were in the area considered the birthplace of our Savior. And then we were off to the next place. As I write this, at least I have the memory of being in Bethlehem and that is something I never thought would happen.

 

The question I am sure you have is why the verse above for today? What a gracious invitation the Messiah, our Savior offers to us at this season celebrated to be His birth! It is an offer to “all you who labor and are heavy laden”; to those who carry the troubles of life and the sins of their own sin nature. You know what I mean – the routine of life, the overworked or those striving in order to “move up the chain”, and the tensions all around us. Those who are “heavy laden” are having to endure life because of something laid on them form some other source. Often this results in “burnout” and just giving up.

 

“The baby born unto us” came to live in human form to not only provide a way back to the Father through the salvation He offers but for those who believe to walk the narrow way of righteous living every day. When we come to Jesus as our Savior, we become His servants and do all we can to be obedient to His direction (We get His direction from reading and studying his Word!). If you have been reading this blog for long, you know I am talking about the way we walk the narrow way to eternal life in His kingdom. When we come to Him in this way, He sets us free from the burdens we face, gives us rest, peace (the Prince of Peace), and the Holy Spirit leads us as we walk the narrow way. The writer of Hebrews wrote, ”Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). That means as God’s people, we do not need to fear that we will be turned away when we come to Him with our prayers, our needs, our hurts; we do not need to try to hide any of this from Him. When we do, He gives mercy for what we have failed in and grace for what we need right now. The trials and cares we carry with us right now will be tolerated because He is helping us carry them.

 

Without the birth in Bethlehem, we are on our own. With Bethlehem’s story we can find peace with God and are able to come boldly to Him with every need we have. What a blessed event it was (is)!