Jesus welcomed the people, taught them about the Kingdom of God and healed those in need. Luke 9:11

Seeds of the Kingdom

Come, Take Learn and Find

by Gemma Gardner

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30, NLT

We have a calendar on the wall in our kitchen. It has a Scripture verse written on it for each day of the year, and there’s a space on the left-hand side for us to write notes. I always read the verse of the day when I am getting breakfast ready, and yesterday the verse read, “Come unto me ... and I will give you rest.” Part of the verse wasn’t there, because there wasn’t enough space to print the whole verse. I started to think of what Jesus had said, and the words, ‘come’, ‘take’, ‘learn’ and ‘find’ stood out to me.

I came to Jesus fifty years ago. I was weary and heavy laden and wanted to find rest for my soul. Before long, I found that I needed to take Jesus’ yoke. That meant letting Him lead me in every aspect of my life and submitting to His lordship and authority. As I started reading the Bible and being with other believers, I began to understand that my ways of thinking and doing things were not necessarily Jesus’ ways.

I needed to learn a whole new way of living. There was sometimes a real battle, as, in my flesh, I often wanted to give up, or just be passive. I wanted God to change me, but I didn’t understand that there was a part I had to play for this to happen.

All through our lives here on earth we will have to keep coming to Jesus, taking His yoke, confessing our sins, repenting and forgiving others who sin against us. We will have to keep on learning from Jesus and doing His will, and then we will find rest for our souls. It won’t be easy.

We have an enemy who wants to trip us up and hinder our walk with Jesus and destroy our testimony. Increasingly, we will find that God’s way of doing things is the opposite of the world’s way, and we will feel like aliens here on earth. But God has promised that His grace will always be sufficient for us, whatever trials we are facing. He will always be with us, right to the end.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have promised that those who come to You will find rest for their souls. Please help me each day to take Your yoke upon me and let You teach me Your ways, and help me to trust You when the way is hard, because You have said that You will never fail me or forsake me. Thank You, Lord! Amen.

Gemma Gardner lives in Norfolk with her husband, Dean, who until recently worked at Ellel Grange. They are both part of the Associate Ministry team which Gemma joined after completing the Modular school. Gemma has experienced the Lord`s healing and restoration over many years and longs to see Him healing other broken people. Gemma loves listening to music, cooking, knitting and crochet as well as outdoor exercise. She enjoys playing guitar and singing worship songs.

 

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