Meekness and Rest

Jesus never uttered opinions.  Is that not a thought provoking idea?  His words are the essence of truth, he never gave opinions.  He never guessed, he knew, he knows.  So why do we not follow these words?  These somewhat ancient words of truth into life and into our lives?

I am reading the Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, may have read it before, but his information is often hard to retain.  Not that is over my head, but just so delicately brilliant that I sadly forget some of it.  Anyhow, there is a chapter on meekness and rest, a thought provoking, insightful, piece.  Matt. 5.5 says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  Inherit, to possess, to be given; this statement is so interesting, for it is contrary to everything we are.  We are not in the slightest meek; we are proud people always worrying about everything the world thinks about us.  It is a burden that we all carry, and for most an everlasting burden til death.  Tozer takes this idea and applies it to some verses further on in Matthew, something we have all heard at one time or another.  "Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  This yoke according to Tozer is the one that plagues all of the human race.  It is three fold, pride, pretense and artificiality.

Pride, the labor of self- love is heavy, and we are the god of it.  Pretense, to act as everything is going perfect, and hide our real inward poverty.  Artificiality, really comes from our pretense and this endless struggle to keep up who we are not.  These three things are deeply rooted in our society, and they are burdensome.  But at the heart of the message in Matthew, Jesus shows us freedom, to come to him and get rest, true release of our burden.  To come broken, to come exposed, to come humbled, and be swallowed up by the meekness of Christ.  "The rest he offers is of meekness, the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend."  A meek person is not afflicted with the what the world thinks, he may be as strong as Samson and afraid of nothing, but he has stopped fooling himself.  They know they are weak and helpless without God, but also paradoxically know that in God they are everything. 







"Lord, make me childlike.  Deliver me from the urge to compete with another for place or prestige or position.  I would be simple and artless as a little child.  Deliver me from pose and pretense.  Forgive me for thinking of myself.  Help me to forget myself and find true peace in beholding thee.  That thou mayest answer this praye, I humble myself before thee.  Lay open thy easy yoke or self-forgetfullness that through it I may find rest.  Amen."  A.W. Tozer








In all of this, Jesus statements are truth, they are not suggestions or opinions, they are life-fulfilling words.

~CDS~