“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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 will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
John writes in 1 John 2:6 (NIV): “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” He is our great role Model and we are to walk as He walked - through His power and for His glory and for our good. It is He Who guides us in the way we should go with His eye ever upon us and His power ever equipping us. He goes before us and behind us, at our left and our right, surrounding us with His love and faithfulness.
The humble soul will bless God in both adversity and ease, mercy and misery. As righteous Job wrote in the midst of his adversities in Job 1:20-22 (NIV): “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.’ In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
Both in light and in darkness the truly humble follower of the Lord Jesus is found “leaning on the everlasting arms” – “safe and secure from all alarms” as the old hymn states. Indeed, the humble soul can find sugar in the bottom of the bitterest cups – the oil of gladness instead of mourning and garment of praise in lieu of a spirit of despair. These are the “Oaks of Righteousness” that our Lord died for us to become, through His indwelling power. So how are we doing in this? If, like me, you fall into the pattern of grumbling and complaining over things God has allowed and desires for us to walk through (for our good and His glory, BTW), we may all need this reminder. God is in the business of changing us from the inside out – making us more and more like Jesus Who was to be the firstborn among many brothers. God, Who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Jesus to walk as He walked. Pointing others to Him on our treks to our heavenly home.
Genuine humility is Christ’s very heart – both now and when He walked this dusty earth. He was approachable, willing, tender, open armed, inclusive and unassuming. As He used the descriptors of “gentle and lowly” to describe Himself, He beckons all of us to walk likewise – just as He walked – not as the world - as He knows our feeble frames are so prone to pride. His desire is to guide us with His eye upon us, bearing all our weaknesses and infirmities, and strengthening us to be more and more like Him. His humble heart is bound up in our own and He sympathizes with us as He has walked this same path. Gentleness and humility was His way and ours is to be likewise. As King David declares in Psalm 25:9 (NIV): “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”
“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:5-7 (NIV)