i was reading through Matthew 11 the other day,
the part about Jesus giving rest for the weary and i came across an
interesting idea. in the NIV, it says
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.
but in the New Living translation, it says,
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, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits
perfectly, and the burden I give you is light."
there's a
slight difference between learn from me and let me teach you.
the first requires pro-active effort on my part - i need to try and do what
the Master is doing. the second is not so much passive as it is more of an
emphasis on watching first and simply copying the Master. it's like Jesus is
inviting us to be His apprentices and the job we're apprenticing is rest.
that, to me is a pretty cool idea. that i can follow Jesus around each day
and let Him be my teacher in Rest 101. what exactly does that look like in
life? i'm not too sure. but i hope that as i ask Him to be my teacher,
i'll discover what it means. :)
Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help.
He will respond instantly to the sound of your cries. Though the Lord gave
you adversity for food and affliction for drink, he will still be with you
to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes, and you
will hear a voice say, "This is the way; turn around and walk here."
~Isaiah 30:19-21~
