About 150 Texans on Mission Disaster Relief leaders gathered in Dallas Feb. 15 for their annual summit, and a biblical passage became the centerpiece of the meeting.
David Wells, director of disaster relief, focused on Matthew 11:38-30, in which Jesus encourages his disciples to take on His yoke and learn from Him. Wells displayed a yoke, which is a bar that joins two animals together to pull a load.
“The tagline on our trailers, ‘We are on mission with Christ,’ comes from this concept,” Wells said.
The disaster relief group included area coordinators, specialty coordinators and various blue caps from across the state. They spent about 45 minutes going through the Matthew passage and applying it to their work.
Jesus starts by saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (NIV).
Wells said Jesus offered His disciples an invitation to go with Him — the “with Christ” from the TXM tagline. Jesus also understood His disciples’ condition — “weary and burdened” — but offered a rest that involved doing something.
This is where the yoke comes in. Jesus said, “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” (NIV).
Wells offered the leaders a few “immediate truths” from Jesus’ words. “You must put it on,” he said, referring to the yoke. People must decide to follow Jesus and live out their faith. “You do it with and not for the Lord,” thus the use of “with” in the TXM tagline.
God’s work involves responsibilities. “This rest is not laziness,” Wells said. “There is a rest under the load.” And the truth found in Christ’s yoke attracts people to it.
Wells stressed that disciples of Christ, including disaster relief volunteers, have one leader, Jesus. They pull one load – Jesus’. They pull one load at a time – Jesus’. And they go in one direction – Jesus’.
One of the special things about people who are yoked together for one purpose is they never walk alone, Wells said. And together they never fail, never lose, never lie, never quit.
“You can’t wear two yokes,” Wells said. And when you take on Jesus’ yoke, you find saying “yes” to God’s work is better than saying “no.”
“You become a praying person,” he said. And, you realize you can’t please those not in the yoke. “Your temperament changes. … You find no task is too small, … and no task is too large.” The outcome of what a Jesus disciple does is always in Christ’s hands.
When animals are yoked together, they are pulling something. “The load is always behind you,” Wells said. “You find no enemy too smart. You find no battle too frightening.” Help is always close, and you are never separated from that help.
“Stay out of the yoke and you struggle praying,” he continued. In Christ’s yoke, “your talk and your walk with your Lord becomes more important than your work for your Lord.”
Wells encouraged the leaders to not look back and never stop learning. “You know Him (Jesus) better every day.”
Christ’s yoke “absorbs all stress,” “removes all pressures,” “relieves all anxiety and worry,” and “erases all fear.”
