by Pastor Cecil | Jul 3, 2014 | Matthew
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
What constitutes weariness? If we enter an exercise regimen, the first days will seem like pure agony. Muscles will throb that we never even knew existed. So it is not the amount of excursion we expend, but being prepared to deal the demands of life.
When I was in high school I played football. In the first days of practice we didn’t even see a football. All we were exposed to was calisthenics. This is a harsh word that means to torture your body until it screams! Strange as it seems, after a few days we were able to breeze through the routines and were now prepared to run through the plays that would make us successful in the games that lay ahead.
I have often wished I knew more about farming. My limited association is to grasp the idea that you had to get up at sunrise and work until the sun went down. There is a lot more to it. Take the term yoke. In modern practices it is seldom used. It is when two dray animals (often oxen) have a wooden yoke placed across their shoulders and as they walk they pull the load.
For a young animal this seems cruel to yoke them in with a much larger animal. I am told however, that this is for training purposes only. The larger animal carries the burden and the youngster only walks along beside. That is what Jesus calls us to do. When we are weary and burdened with the cares of life, we slip His yoke over our shoulders and walk beside Him. DO NOT BE WEARY!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 2, 2014 | Philippians
Philippians 1:20-21
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Way back in the 1960’s I was an Air Force Personnel Officer stationed in Shreveport, Louisiana. The church we attended had a guest speaker who was a professor at a well known seminary. The Sahara Desert could not have been any dryer than this man’s message. He seemed to delight in using terms that even the most learned would find difficult to understand. The best thing about his message was the Amen at the close!
Many years later I had become an ordained minister and attended a pastor’s conference in Portland, Oregon. As I reviewed the program there were many wonderful sessions with speakers I was eager to hear. Then I looked further and to my shock I saw that the same dull seminary professor was speaking at all of the general sessions. How could the organizers do this to us?!
As the professor began to speak he assumed the person of the character he wanted to highlight. The first character was Joseph. He spoke as if he were actually Joseph. To a room filled with pastors and their wives he became Joseph. He expressed the thoughts Joseph must have felt at all the stages of his life. It was incredible that we were all leaning forward to listen to him live out the inner feelings that Joseph must have experienced.
We could hardly wait for the next session when he lived out another Bible character. In like manner the Bible should come alive. We need to experience it in such a way that it is alive. LIVE IT!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 1, 2014 | Luke
Luke 10:38-40a
As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.
For years I have read this passage of Scripture and tried to picture the scene. It appears that the home belonged to Martha. Her brother, Lazarus, and sister lived with her. At some point, Jesus came to the home and Mary sat eagerly at His feet taking in the words He shared with those who gathered.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (actually in the kitchen), Martha was slaving away at the preparations for the meal that would be served. She stewed in the stew that Mary had left her alone in the necessary work of serving. Martha complained to Jesus about the situation and wanted Him to send Mary to the kitchen to help her.
From a practical point of view it would seem reasonable that Mary should have been in the kitchen helping. But she had a higher calling; she wanted to drink in every word that proceeded out of the Master’s mouth.
Here is where I impose myself in this scene. Rather than take the side of either Martha or Mary, I would like to be like both. I desire to have a servant spirit that cares about others, but I also want to take the time to drink in the life-giving words that come from the Word of God. I will, therefore, serve and soak up the Word!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
