Gems from February 10-11, 2005
February 10
"What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." (1 Corinthians 2:11)
I remember looking at a busy ant colony on a broiling summer day in Australia. My thoughts ran as follows. The distance between a man and an ant is very great, but after all it is but a finite distance. You can weigh the substance of a man and that of an ant, and you can find out how much heavier a man is that an ant. But can an ant understand what is passing through a man's mind? Can an ant understand the achievements of men? We know it cannot. But the distance between God and man is infinitely greater than that between man and ant. God is the Creator. Man is the creature. The distance between them is infinite. No arithmetic is of any use here. Is it possible that the mind of man can understand and comprehend God? "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find our the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measures thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." (Job 11:7-9) (A.J. Pollock - Why I Believe the Bible)
N.J. Hiebert # 2156
February 11
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 29,30)
Is the Christian life after all, what its enemies take it for - an additional weight to the already great woe of life, some extra punctiliousness about duty, some painful devotion to observances, some heavy restriction and trammelling of all that is joyous and free in the world? ...Did you ever stop to ask what a yoke is really for? Is it to be a burden to the animal which wears it? It is just the opposite. It is to make its burden light.
A yoke is not an instrument of torture; it is an instrument of mercy. It is not a malicious contrivance for making work hard; it is a gentle device to make hard labour light. It is not meant to give pain, but to save pain. And yet men speak of the yoke of Christ as if it were a slavery, and look upon those who wear it as objects of compassion?
... The mistake has arisen from taking the word "yoke" here in the same sense as in the expressions "under the yoke." ... in Christ's illustration it is not the jugrum of the Roman soldier, but the simple "harness" or "ox-collar" of the Eastern peasant. (Henry Drummond)
N.J. Hiebert # 2157
