At Work in the Kingdom

A Servant in the Kingdom of God has not rest, but rather hard labor for the King.

There is a great misconception about the Kingdom of God and I think many look at the Kingdom and get ‘warm fuzzies’. They do so because of the emphases that have been placed upon the moments when the Christ healed the sick, raised the dead and spoke these words, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” We must not stop here and no more.

The problem with this is that these words are taken from context and the rest of the story is not told and therefore misconstrued.

"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 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 WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:27-30.

What is not learned are two very important phrases:
1. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me
2. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light

You see, the yoke is for the work of the beast of toil and the Lord says that the yoke that He provides is easy, that is, it fits correctly and this makes the burden of the task ahead less difficult. And then he also tells us that we must learn from Him.

How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart. They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways. You have ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently. Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments. I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgment, I shall keep Your statutes; Do not forsake me utterly! Psalm 119:1-8.

Those who are effectively working in the local church are doing so because they have learned that the Kingdom is not a place of rest, but rather a place of hard work. I would submit that it is easy to know the sheep from the goats in the local church. Those Believers who are at work are laboring to teach the new Believers how to work and are seeking to bring the lost into the Kingdom.

These are the “blameless, who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart, are righteous and are not ashamed” before God.

Jesus is Lord
BobW