cast away-take up

8/6/2019 Cast Away-Take Up

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Word from The WORD

Cast Away - Take Up

Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give yourest. (Matthew 11:28)

For a very long time I could not empathize with someone who says that heor she could not sleep in the night, until I had the same experience, notfor one day or two days but for several months. After retiring to my bed, Iused to struggle throughout the night with sleeplessness. My body wouldbe tired because of the arduous work at the office, but my mind wouldrefuse to stay at rest. There were so many matters that were troubling me

and that would not allow me sleep. It was a very painful and tormentingexperience. After a long struggle every night, I slept only in the earlyhours of the day to, to wake up in another hour or two.

Even after praying day after day, I could not find any deliverance from mysleeplessness. Only then the profoundness of the above verse struck mymind. There could be so many issues that might be bothering us. In thecontext of the 11th chapter of Matthew, we see three issues that canburden us.

1. Befuddled Belief

Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Matthew11:3 (ESV)

The one who was filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mothers womb(Luke 1:15); who was to be called the prophet of the Highest, who waschosen to go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways (Luke 1: 76) John the Baptist, he sends messengers to Jesus and asks of Him. Themessenger doubts his message! This can happen to any of us as we goabout proclaiming the gospel. An idea that we couldnt counter, cause of

Author: Mariyosh J Page 1


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incertitude; a belief system that baffled us; a dogma that put our doctrineto doubt. And all of this could burden our minds.

Sometimes if we genuinely share these doubts to some of our spiritualfriends or leaders, they might despise us or look down upon us. But that is

not how Jesus reacts when we go to Him. Here is Jesus opinion of thisJohn , the mazed messenger, who is doubting Him.

What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold,those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. What then did you goout to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This ishe of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face,who will prepare your way before you. Truly, I say to you, among thoseborn of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater thanhe.Matthew 11:8-11 (ESV)

Jesus says that even the least is greater than John!

Jesus understands our burdens and our genuine struggles. He does notstop there. But clears our cares & concerns by taking us into His Word,that never changes, the absolute. In Matthew 11:4,5 .and the poorhave the gospel preached to themJesus takes John to a similar verse, theprophecy in Isaiah concerning Him in Isaiah 61:1-3 the Lord hasanointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor. Jesus takes John to thebook which contains his call to confirm His call so as to cast off his

confusion.

Confused of your call Call unto Him;

Doubting the Doctrines Direct to Him;

Confusions and Doubts, cast onto Him;

Confusions will be cleared and Doubts will depart;

As the Son speaks to us and the Spirit shows the Scriptures.

2. Peer Pressure / Conformance Concerned

But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting inthe marketplaces and calling to their playmates, We played the flute foryou, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has ademon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look athim! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! Yetwisdom is justified by her deeds. Matthew 11:16-19 (ESV)



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We could be bothered by those who want us to think and act as they wish.May be you are under a control freak in your workplaces a person whoseeks to control every move of his subordinates. Our boss or TL wants usto do the project in his/her own way and may not allow our uniqueness toevolve.

Or we could be burdened by those who are always critical of us. When wedo certain things in a way, they want us do it another way and the nexttime when we we do it that way, they want us to do it the other way. Wemight very well notice the inconsistency in his/her statements andproposals and that might have set very heavy on our hearts and minds.Jesus calls us to Him promising rest from the reproaches! Again Jesus doesnot stop here. Matthew 11:19b says, Yet wisdom is justified andvindicated by what she does (her deeds) and her children (AmplifiedBible). He gives us wisdom and our deeds will be proved right!3. Few Fruits / 0 OutcomeThen he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty workshad been done, because they did not repent. Matthew 11:20 (ESV)Even after putting in much effort we may not be seeing much results andthat might weary us. Many missionaries see less fruits in their fields evenafter strenuous labour and that wearies them down.

In the movie Beyond the Next Mountain an English missionary even afterserving for many years among the Hamar people of Northeast India couldnot bring one man to the Lord and leaves a copy of the Gospel of John.Caroline Paint & Olive Jarvis were two unmarried missionaries who servedin Bihar for more than 26 years and saw no results. All these missionarieswere very much discouraged. The English missionary who served amongthe Hamar people would have never imagined what the Lord was going todo through that one gospel copy that he left. That was taken by a man byname Chawnga who passed it on to his son Rochunga Pudaite, whotranslated the Bible into the Hamar language which paved way forthousands to come to Christ! The missionaries who served in Bihar prayed

to God to send a young man. Though they saw Bro. Augustine Jebakumarcoming to Bihar as a missionary they never lived to see the great work ofthe Lord in Bihar.But in the day of judgment (Matthew 11:22, 24) not only the un-repented will be judged, but Jesus also said, For the Son of Man is goingto come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay(reward) each person according to what he has done. Matthew16:27 (ESV)



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Let us not lose heart seeing the poor results, but let us continue to do Hisministry and fulfil His plans & purposes concerning us, not expecting anearthly recognition or reward, but an eternal one!Whatever that might be which is burdening and bogging us down, Jesus

says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give yourest. Matthew 11:28 (ESV) But He does not stop there, He says, Take myyoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, andyou will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden islight. Matthew 11:29-30 (ESV)It is a call for us to go to Him and cast OUR burdens upon Him and takeHIS yoke upon us. Lets check our lives today of all that which isburdening us concerning our personal, family, work and ministerialspheres of life. If we would be bogged down with all of that, lets go toJesus and get rid of those thoughts. And receive His burdens."Let my heart be broken with the things that break God'sheart" Bob Pierce, World Vision founder

Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears!I would weep day and nightfor...... the daughters of my people.(Jeremiah 9:1)

Cast your burdens onto Jesus, for He cares for you!

Take His burdens onto yourself, for He counts on you!!

Our burdens bog us down, His burdens build us (& others) up!!!


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