This is the third article on “growing.” Note the following invitation of Jesus: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, 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 shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my load is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus uses three action words to get our attention: COME, TAKE, LEARN.
Let’s briefly consider each one:
— COME TO ME. If we want to “grow in grace and knowledge” (II Peter 3:18), we must first “come to Jesus.” Luke tells us in Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”
The context tells us the name is Jesus Christ.
— TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU. It is a yoke of service. Jesus said He came to serve, not to be served (Matthew 20:28). Now note what Paul wrote in the Roman letter, “… his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (Romans 6:16). We are all servants. The question is, what are we serving? If not Jesus, who?
— LEARN FROM ME. To grow in grace and knowledge requires that we learn from Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). And Jesus said, “… no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”
The Bible contains many things we need to learn from Jesus. At this writing, I suggest these three:
(1) Learn from His humility. Note verse 29. Jesus is gentle and humble in heart. Read Philippians 2:1-11 and especially verse 8: “… He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
(2) Learn from His heart. He wept over a city (Luke 19:41). He cared about children (Matthew 19:13, 14). He talked to a woman at a well nobody else would have talked to (John 4:7-26).
(3) Learn from His love. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12, 13).
What about it? Have you come to Jesus? Are you serving like He served? Are you learning from Him? Three great words of action: COME, TAKE and LEARN!
— Les Ferguson Sr.,
S. Huntington Church of Christ
