On Friday’s a bunch of us free-write on a prompt for five minutes … stream of thought—no editing. Yep. Tough to do for a grammar Nazi such as myself. On Thursday nights, we start out with a Twitter party. As usual the #fmfparty was, a delight to be a part of.
I learned about a couple of new things floating around in the technosphere—at least they are new to me. 😉 The first is a thing called Voxer—apparently, it’s turns your device into a walkie-talkie? I need to check it out and see if it’s for me. The other very cool thing was TweetChat—a website that allows you to see your Twitter feed for a specific hashtag. When tweeting, it automatically attaches the hashtag for you. Very cool!
Here is today’s prompt:
Learn
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)
There is nothing like having teenagers in the house to remind yourself of the lessons you hoped you taught them. Some teens learn well from others … their parents, their teachers, and their friends. Others, however, have to learn on their own.
Experience is the best teacher. But it is also the toughest and delivers the toughest consequences. Sin is a driver, a demander.
But Jesus is gentle and humble and gives rest to us. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Not easy—but not burdensome with heavy consequences due to poor choices.)
Jesus told us to learn from Him! When we are weary and burdened from sin, He offers rest. We come to Him, connect with Him, and learn from Him. He is a gentle Teacher. And His gift is rest.
When I watch my teens living their lives and learning in the way that is most effective for them, I’m often challenged myself. I want them to learn from my experience and mistakes, or from the experience and mistakes of others. After all, that is wisdom.
But I look at myself, and see that sometimes I, too, choose to learn from my own life experience, rather than the experience of others.
Jesus gave us His life as an example and His Word to guide us. I’d rather learn from the Lord, rather than life. I pray my kids do the same.
What about you?
![This week in our small group study, I felt the Lord’s gentle chastisement.
We looked at the promise in Luke 11:28, “He [Jesus] replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”
At first glance, the promise of blessing comes from obedience. But it’s much more.
In the preceding verses, Jesus had cast out a demon that caused a man to be mute. The crowd accused Him of casting out a demon with Satan’s power.
Jesus explained how ridiculous it would be for Satan to drive out his own demons. Then a woman cries out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you,” (v 27).
This is the sticking point. Jesus was in the middle of an important discourse when this woman interrupts Him. He corrects her with this:
✨ Blessed are those who HEAR the word of God and obey it.
That word HEAR means to LISTEN with FULL ATTENTION.
✨ We cannot truly obey God if we don’t know what He’s saying to us.
Basically, Jesus told this woman, and the others in the crowd, “Pay attention!! Don’t get distracted from my voice. I have important things to tell you. You won’t know what they are and what I want you to do, if all you’re thinking about is what you want to say or how you can gain attention. Put your attention on ME.”
It’s never fun to be Jesus’s object lesson.
The questions I’m asking myself …
✨ What keeps me from spending time alone with Jesus?
✨ When I finally get alone with Him, what distracts me?
✨ What keeps me from focusing on God’s Word?
✨ What causes my kind to wander when I’m praying?
➡️ Eliminating distractions …
➡️ Exercising discipline …
… to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
… brings true blessing.
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such a wonderful post.
Dianne, when my youngest, now 37, was a senior in high school and I knew our nest was about to empty after having kids in the home for 27 years – it was a constant LIFE 101 class. I felt like every conversation had to be a lesson. He’s a wonderful, responsible adult man now so I think THOSE lessons were learned. Of course, all of my kids have learned the really HARD things on their own, as we all do. xoxo Thanks for visiting me! #40 at FMF
I love hearing from moms who have “launched” their kids. These are encouraging words! Thank you!!
I have two adult children (1 still living at home) and a teen and a tween! Life is full. I’ve learned so much from my kids and it’s also my prayer that they learn from the Lord. Stopped by from the Five Minute Friday. Have a blessed weekend.
Thanks, Barbie. You DO have a full life! I’m so glad you came by.
I have tears Dianne…I too have many degrees from the school of hard knocks. I so want my children to learn from me…but God needs to be their (and my) teacher. Thanks for sharing!
It’s a tough road for them — and us. Part of our learning is adjusting to their choices! Thanks for coming by!!