September 22

“If we want to walk where Christ walks, we must have on His yoke, and if we will not take it on lovingly and gladly, He will be compelled to put it on us with chastisements and severity.  To take the yoke of Christ on us means that we give our freedom of will to Him and consent to be guided by His voice in all things.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 9/16

Hannah says His voice will be made known to us in three ways:  “through Scripture, through providential circumstances, and through a divine conviction produced in the soul by the Holy Spirit.”  This seems so clear cut, but for a person like me it does not address all my “what if” scenarios.  I always had a hard time with word problems in math because I was always allowing for “what if” situations that might affect the answer.  Math is supposed to be a fixed-in-concrete sort of thing!  No wonder I have a problem with real life.  It has all sorts of mitigating circumstances--all sorts of situations that change according to the weather or hormones!   This confirms all the more for me that I am not capable of following Christ unless I am totally given over to the Holy Spirit within me.  My mind wants to analyze every little detail and try to figure out what the best course of action is.  Christ says, “Just put on my Yoke...it is easy and my burden is light.”    That is why beholding God’s glory is key to living the Christ life.   Our work is to behold God.  Christ’s work was finished on the cross.  The Holy Spirit’s work is to bring us safely into the awaiting arms of God.  Freedom in Christ is giving up the work of figuring things out.

“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”  John 10:2, 3