Yoked to Jesus

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“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, 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 light.” †  Mathew 11: 28-30  What is the labour and burden that Jesus is asking me to deal with? Perhaps I have to let go of the compulsive burden (or is it a sort of entitlement?) that my spouse and children should choose a spiritual path that I know to be right. Jesus accompanied Judas Iscariot to the very end but never deprived him of his freedom to choose his own destiny. Jesus on the other hand, uninterrupted by Judas's choice to reject him, continues to accomplish his mission. He does become a victim of Judas's betrayal but he seldom takes on the victim's identity. In divine wisdom, Jesus chooses to die in our place (and that of Judas) in a redeeming act of love. Rather than being compelled to fix those whom God has entrusted to my headship by m

Intimacy that nourish our lives

The true setting to understand intimacy is marriage. In marriage, man and woman enters into a covenant to offer themselves as a gift to each other. We enter into a physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual intimacy. But since we are 2 equals looking to the other for our own fulfillment with insufficient resources to share, we fall short of a perfect intimacy in all these areas. We ought to look to God to nourish this intimacy. Marital intimacy foreshadows our ultimate intimacy with God in the life to come.

God reduced himself to our level in the person of Jesus Christ in order to take us beyond the physical, social, emotional and intellectual realms to connect with Him in spirit. Jesus said you will worship God in Truth and spirit. Truth is Jesus Himself and the Spirit is the Holy Spirit. It is through the merit of Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection that we are made righteous to present our self in the presence of God. It is the Holy Spirit who intercedes on our behalf to God in our worship. The transaction here is almost one way. God fills us with the love that we need to nourish our relationships. This love we are being filled with is the Holy Spirit himself. But since our mandate is to be human and to be in flesh, we have challenges having to go beyond the physical, social, emotional and intellectual realms to connect with God in spirit.

The physical realm includes our body, sexuality and all the material things including money. People who serve and worship money as God and People who propagate sex as way to enlightenment and entertainment are some who get stuck here. Zacheus in the bible represents a true transformation from the physical to beyond.

Social realm includes my social status, name, career, power, authority etc. We see people struggle to maintain social status at the cost of their own lives. They mobilise all endowments to get ahead of others.

Emotional realm are our joys, comfort, pain etc. We get stuck here too. Sometimes in pain and other times is pleasure. Hedonism, Self pity are examples.

Some people spend their lifetime in learning and amassing knowledge. These are the people who get stuck in Intellectual realm. They are not teachable anymore. They love to win arguments, engage in debates but refuses to bow down to wisdom that comes from God.

In order to experience God we have to raise our selves beyond all these realms and meet with Him in Truth and Spirit. This is a daily process that we joyfully need to engage ourselves in. It is the Truth (Jesus) that help us set free from all the other realms. Supporting bible verses to validate the above thoughts are below:

Physical:
Seek first the kingdom of God everything else will be added unto you. Look at the lilies of the field and birds of the air..., Do not store up riches on earth but in heaven, If you look at a women with lust, you commit adultery

Emotional:
Do not worry about tomorrow, Do not be afraid, You are my precious, Even if your mother forgets I will not forget you.

Social:
When you are invited to a banquet choose the last seat, Wash the feet of your brother, Those who want to be greater should be a servant, I have come to serve.

Intellectual:
God has revealed to the ordinary what he has kept from the wise, White washed tombs, Brood of vipers,

The physical, social, emotional and intellectual realms are to be seen as support system for us to Love as God loves and reach God. They provide for us in our journey and we ought not to get stuck in any of them. We get nourished in the spiritual in order to minister in the other realms. As bible says, you are in the world but not of the world. When we pass on to the next life, everything else will cease to exist and only the spiritual will remain. That's why Jesus said store up riches in heaven.

Our strength to sustain and nourish relationships comes from intimacy with God. And when we have done our part well here on earth we are to say we are unprofitable servants. He will then surprise us with eternal life that is immeasurably beyond what we can ever imagine.

Comments

  1. Praise d lord....... i liked this very much..... i haven't thought about these points....

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