“He changes a wilderness into a pool of water, and a dry land into springs of water;” Psalm 107:35 Dry land – The answer to a thirsty soul (see August 22) is the action of God. He changes things. I don’t go into His desert and dig a well for myself. In His desert, I…
“My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You. In a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 Dry land – The Hebrew word tsiyyah is used only sixteen times. It describes a parched wilderness. That’s exactly the kind of place where David composed this psalm. As he reflected on…
“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.” Matthew 11:29 Find – There are three nuances to the word heurisko. Context determines the correct understanding. However, when the word is translated into English, we often lose the flavor. …
“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.” Matthew 11:29 Humble – In order to fully appreciate how onerous this word really is to human beings, we must look behind our sanctified expression of humility and expose ourselves…
“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.” Matthew 11:29 Gentle – The Greek word in Matthew that we translate “meek” or “gentle” is praos. In the gospels, it is only found in Matthew. In classical Greek, the…
“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.” Matthew 11:29 Learn – The Greeks were famous for their tragic plays. Many of these productions underlie contemporary films and stories. They had a way of capturing the deepest issues…
“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.” Matthew 11:29 Learn – Do you have a degree in Jesus’ teaching? That’s not the same as a theological education. What’s the difference? The Greek verb manthano implies “an intellectual…
“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.” Matthew 11:29 Yoke – We think that it is paradoxical that God’s view of freedom is always in the context of being bound to Him. The image of the yoke…
“These things I have spoken to you that you may be kept from stumbling” John 16:1 Stumbling – But we did stumble, didn’t we? That’s the story of our lives. We are no different than those men and women who heard these words in person. They listened but did not understand. Jesus poured out a…
“No longer do I call you slaves; for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends,” John 15:15 Friend – “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sin and grief to bear”. That single verse from the old hymn is frighteningly powerful. Do we really…
