Hard Decisions
All through life people are faced with decisions. Often those decisions are very hard. Decisions regarding marriage, career choices, which church one should affiliate himself or herself with, medical decisions, and decisions that impact the lives of others.
Surely no one sets out to make wrong decisions but nevertheless, wrong decisions are made and great harm is done to oneself, or others.
The most important advice for life’s crossroads is this: seek God’s will. He knows what is best for you, and He does not want you to wander aimlessly through life. Never forget: God made you, and He knows all about you. The most important advice for life’s crossroads is this: seek God’s will. He knows what is best for you, and He does not want you to wander aimlessly through life.
Never forget: God made you, and He knows all about you—including the gifts and abilities He gave you. More than that, He loves you and wants what is best for you. Maybe you have been living for yourself and for the moment rather than for Him and for things eternal. But do not stay on that path; you will only end up at a blank wall if you ignore God’s plan for your life.
Ask God to guide you as you make decisions about your future. He may not show you everything at once, but with Christ in your heart, you can face the future with confidence, knowing He will lead you in His perfect way.
Are you being called to take a leap of faith? “That word faith means that you surrender your total life to Jesus Christ.”
Steve
The Sermon on the Mount
Two Symbols – The Cross and Jesus’ Yoke
Throughout the last two thousand years, there is one symbol that has been central to Christian art, theology, jewelry, architecture, banners and even tattoos: the cross. Images and statues throughout Christendom highlight Jesus’ cross. Countless sermons and books speak about the importance of the cross. Churches and ministries regularly have “cross” in their name. And until recent times, most churches were built in the shape of a cross with the altar at the center point.
This cross-centeredness is understandable. Jesus willingly died a sacrificial death on a cross (Matt. 26:33–50). Jesus spoke regularly of the necessity of his disciples to take up their own crosses and follow him (Matt. 10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 14:27). The Apostle Paul frequently spoke about the Christian life as embracing the cross of Christ, including its pain and shame (1 Cor. 1:17–28; Gal. 6:14; Col. 1:19–23).
Yet there is another important symbol that Jesus uses that has not played as central a role in Christian thinking as the cross, but I think it should: the yoke. A close study of the Gospel of Matthew shows that even though it is only found in one text, the yoke is central to the theology and purpose of Matthew’s Gospel and to all of Jesus’ ministry. In Matthew 11:28–30, after boldly claiming his unique role as the revealer of God (11:25–27), Jesus invites people to take his yoke upon their lives.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:28–30)
The yoke and the cross are both made of wood, but the yoke is an agricultural image rather than a symbol of execution. The yoke pictures a farmer patiently guiding an animal down a long field row, giving the ox or cow direction as it plows the earth and prepares the ground for planting.
What Jesus means by his invitation to take his yoke upon our necks is immediately explained — it means to “learn from me” (11:29). The word translated “learn” here is the word for “become a disciple,” that is, a person who becomes the student of a master teacher, who learns from an expert’s words and example. While the cross speaks of self-sacrifice, the yoke speaks about discipleship, or mentorship. This is Christianity: Jesus’ invitation to learn from him the way to find true shalom, the flourishing life we were made for and long for. Jesus is saying that this true rest will only be found in taking his yoke upon our lives, becoming disciples of him, submitting to him as our true mentor.
By Jonathan T. Pennington
Jonathan T. Pennington is associate professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is also director of the Ph.D. program. He has also regularly served as a visiting professor at Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando), Southeastern Seminary,
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Thoughts of Billy Graham – He Won’t Abandon You
Has God abandoned me? Discouragement, hopelessness, despair—so many situations in this fallen world can make us feel this way. Problems and struggles can wear us down physically, emotionally, and mentally—and can even erode our faith.
But God, our loving heavenly Father, understands our feelings at times like these, and He wants to encourage and help us. After all, His Son, Jesus Christ, went through the same experiences we do—although without sinning (see Hebrews 4:15). We are never alone when we know Christ, and we can trust Him to lead us and point the way out of our dilemma.
Life sometimes takes us through hard places. But even in the midst of them, God is with us, and nothing can happen to us that is beyond His ability to help.
The Bible says we can “glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3–4, NIV). Being joyful may seem hard to you right now, but put your hope in Christ, and thank Him that He will never abandon you.
We all need God; we need to know He loves us, and we need to know He is with us. Most of all, we need His forgiveness, and we need to discover the hope only He can give us for the future.
But when we leave Him out of our lives, a giant hole is left in our souls. And no matter how hard we try to fill it — with things, or pleasures, or work or relationships — the hole is still there, and our hearts are still empty. Many people spend their lives trying to fill that empty place but never succeeding — because they never seek God. This is why the Bible urges us to “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).
The most important truth I can tell you is that God knows your heartache — and He loves you and yearns for you to find Him. And He has done everything possible to make this happen! He did this by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to bring us back to Himself. Jesus did this by bridging the gap between us and God — a gap caused by our sin.
Billy Graham Association
Three crosses but only one with an impacting significance. The one on which the Son of God gave His life for man’s justification.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews informs us that “1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come– In the volume of the book it is written of Me– To do Your will, O God.’ ” 8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:1-10).
In short, man can only be justified before God by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. All other efforts just cannot satisfy God’s Justice.