“My yoke is easy, my burden is light”

This is a verse I come running back to often as a Jesus-follower. Sin’s constant lie to me is that doing things my way or the sinful way is easier, more fun, and more freeing—but it’s never true. Doing things God’s way always leads to more joy, peace, and freedom. Life also tends to become heavy and hard at times, and I just want to run away from it all to escape the burden I feel I am carrying—but that comes back to the wrong mentality, not a bad life. I have chosen to see my life as a burden, and it is not. I need to change my heart attitude, and the burden will simply cease to exist.

I also take comfort in Jesus relentless focus on the heart. God desires kindness more than sacrifice. I remember that my greatest calling in life is to be a messenger of kindness, joy, and love alongside the gospel message I give out—because that’s what makes the gospel truly attractive to people.

God you are good—and you want what’s best for me—but I keep getting sidetracked and believing the lie that I need to find it outside of what you want for me. Help me to live in joy in your ways, and to monitor my heart more than my behavior today.

Jesus lectures people throughout today’s reading who failed to take the presence of God’s messenger seriously. They heard it, they benefited from it, but they ultimately did not change their lives. Jesus goes as far as  to compare them to cities that were known for their evil, and explain that these modern locations would be worse off than even Sodom and Gomorrah!

For my part, I have the entire story of God available to me. I have it in multiple English translations, I hear it preached on Sundays, and I can get to it every second of the day through a free Bible or an electronic search. There’s no excuse for it not to impact my life, except that I don’t pay it enough attention.

We must strive to let God’s word change us…and we must help others to do the same. They face the same judgment. We need to help them take God seriously.

There are definitely times that God puts the words I need to hear right in front of me. Today is one of those days. In the midst of criticism and hurt, I am reminded that God’s opinion is of supreme importance. That nothing hidden will be left hidden–God will reveal it one day. God’s Words are powerful and poetic: “Do not be afraid of people, who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul…God even knows how many hairs are on your head.”

These thoughts remind me of my importance to God, and His love for me. That love is a great comfort in the midst of these times, and I am grateful to be running to it in my troubles, rather than to some other outlet: food, video games, or something addictive.

It also assures me that even in people judge and attack me in this life for actions I did not do or a heart attitude I did not have, one day God will set the record straight on my heart and my actions. Those who were quick to judge will be put to shame as God defends me.

As long as I remain a man of integrity, God will prove me so one day.

Jesus begins healing, and it soons spins into a 24/7/365 job that begins wearing Him out! Sickness, leprosy, demon-possession, etc. Jesus can’t out-heal the need. What does He do? He first points the need out to His followers. They should know, but Jesus ensures that they see the overwhelming numbers. Then they pray for help—Jesus makes sure they realize that the problem is not the needs of the world, the problem is the lack of workers.

By the time he’s done, I hope Jesus’ followers were volunteering to help, but in case they didn’t, He makes a point to appoint twelve of them, and send them out to the surrounding area. Even then, He tells them to keep their ministry focused on a specific group of people—the first wave of the ministry to the world.

Our world is no different. The needs are overwhelming—we will never be able to take care of them all. We need to pray—because ultimately getting more people working in ministry is a task only God can complete. And we need to appoint people—even people who are not ready—but who are willing—to try doing the ministry for themselves. And even after we have done all of that, we need to limit the scope of their endeavor so that we prioritize the gospel message and don’t overwhelm the next generation of ministry leaders.

I hope I am as bold and prayerful and empowering as Jesus was with potential leaders that I find.

This section of Matthew strikes me with the differences in the details of the story that he put in his account, verses Luke and Mark. Luke writes about the demon-possessed man’s life after the demons are sent away. Matthew’s goal is to reach a Jewish audience, so he leaves that unimportant detail out because it concerns Gentile people.

Mark also includes the detail that the paralytic was lowered through a roof to Jesus—his friends worked hard to get him healed. Matthew leaves out that part.

Different audience, different emphasis.

Jesus definitely has an interesting way of meeting us where we are. Like the section that speaks of new wine in new wineskins, we must learn things that match our maturity. I can’t learn things now because I’m not at the right stage for it. But one day that’s a lesson I will learn.

I need Jesus to meet me where I am at—and I need to make sure I am open to hearing his lesson for me, not for someone else or a different maturity level.