Weekly Manna for Memory
Matt. 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.'”
Manna Snack
Let’s take a look at the second sentence of the Weekly Manna for Memory passage. Jesus says to us, “’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.’”
Throughout the Scriptures, God is all about giving us choices. It’s our choice whether we follow Him, whether we accept His gift of salvation and whether we turn from our sin. In this verse, He also encourages us to choose to take His yoke on ourselves and learn from Him. What is it that we learn? Perhaps it is the gentleness and humility he speaks of in the same sentence. Think of the impact being more gentle and more humble could have in our everyday lives…especially in our closest relationships with our spouse and children. If I truly faced every situation with genuine gentleness and humility, would my day be more peaceful and restful? I believe it would. Let’s seek Christ and His ways so that we can find the rest for our souls that we long for as we choose to take His yoke upon ourselves.
Dear Jesus, thank you for Your invitation to find rest for our souls. I sure need some of that! Lord, help me to learn from You, to lay down my own burden and to take Your yoke upon myself. It is difficult to be truly gentle and humble in the craziness of each day, as I rub shoulders with other imperfect human beings, and especially those I live with day after day. Lord, I pray for You to work out your gentleness and humility in me in each moment of today. Help me to be gentle with my words to my children and husband. Help me to be gentle as I encourage friends and family. Give me a genuine humility as I discuss important matters with others, especially when there is disagreement. Yes, I realize that it may mean being “humiliated” and not having the upper hand at times for the sake of following Your ways. Help me to truly consider others better than myself (Philippians 2:3) and truly try to live at peace with them (Romans 12:18). I want to be at rest in my soul. I want to follow Your example and take on Your easy yoke. Please give me the courage and presence of mind to make this choice in each situation that comes my way today. For Your glory, Jesus. Amen.
Meal of Manna
Read the following Scriptures. Meditate on how each verse gives us a choice to direct our lives and bring them into alignment with God’s best for us. Some are not easy to follow, but they all come with a promise, don’t they? Write down the step we need to take and the promise God makes in each verse. Ask God to show you how each might apply to your life today.
Matthew 11:29 – ‘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.’
Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Psalm 37:4 – Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Take-Away for Today
Choose a particular situation that you will face today in which you will purposefully take on Jesus’ yoke of more gentleness and/or humility. Bring it to God in prayer and ask for His guidance in the situation and then go and obey Him.
