* Tethered to God (2)

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.  
(Matthew 11:29) 

God's desire is to bring us to an expected end; his expected end, not ours

 

For I know the thoughts I think toward you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)

 

That expected end is fulfillment of the vision, finishing the work of God.  Just as Jesus said:  

 

My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work.  (John 4:34)

 

Whenever you enter into something new, it always requires leaving the old.  

 

God asks us to take a new step of faith.  He tells us not to cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago.

 

Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already - you can see it now. (Isaiah 43:18, TLB)

 

Unfortunately, we are so intent on the old, we can’t see the new.  But we have to let go of every single thing – yoke – that we are tethered to that prevents us from moving forward and has us bound.

 

v Some may be bound by doctrine which claims the power of God is no longer for today.

v Some may think the extension of the Gospel to the world is the responsibility of ministers or preachers.

v Some may be bound by tradition or denominations which prevent us from joining hands with the rest of the Body of Christ in the harvest fields of the Lord.

 

Whatever yoke of bondage we’re tethered to, it must be

destroyed because in God we have a new vision.  

 

We have become part of a new network of spiritual laborers bound together by unity of purpose.

 

The Bible records two separate incidents involving the use of a net in the natural world which illustrates a spiritual truth.  One speaks of letting go of the old, the other speaks of the new.

 

The first event occurred at the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry and is recorded in Luke 5:

 

The disciples had been fishing all night and caught nothing. Jesus told them:  

 

Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught. (Luke 5:4)

 

Peter said:  

 

Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing; nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. (Luke 5:5)

 

. . . I can hear Peter thinking to himself, I let go of my knowledge and experience and expertise as a fisherman . . .

 

When they let down the net, they caught so many fish that it broke and they had to call their partners in another boat to come help them. The catch was so great that it filled both boats and they began to sink. Even though they caught fish, the net broke and the boats began to sink.  Peter was amazed at this but Jesus told him:  

 

Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. (Luke 5:10)

 

The catch Peter was experiencing in the natural world was nothing compared to the great harvest he would reap in the spirit world as he became a fisher of men.

 

A similar incident is recorded at the end of Christ's ministry in John 21. The disciples had fished all night and caught nothing. At Christ's command they cast in the net and, once again, it was filled with fish. But this time was different than the first. The net did not break:  

 

Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three; and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. (John 21:11)

 

These two events actually happened in the natural world, but they were parallels of a spiritual truth. The first time the net broke but the second time it did not. What made the difference?

 

The first net was an example of the efforts of man. Peter was a fisherman by trade. He knew the natural methods and the tradition of fishermen. Through the broken net Jesus showed him that the efforts of man alone could not fulfill the vision and work of God.

 

When Peter realized the great work to which God was calling him, he cried out:   

 

Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. (Luke 5:8)

 

In other words, he was saying I’m still attached to the old man; I’m tethered to cultural beliefs that are not God driven.  There were yokes in Peter’s life that needed to be broken.

 

Peter would become a great fisher of men. The old network could not accommodate the great spiritual harvest. Peter would have to abandon the traditions of man and his cultural beliefs. He had to cross the line of separation between Jew and Gentile. The old network had to be broken in order for him to become part of a new network.

 

The second fishing incident was totally different in that a new network had been established; the work of the cross had been completed; Jesus was now talking to them in his resurrected state.  Our old efforts didn’t work or at best were only partially successful, but now; fueled with the power of the Holy Spirit, all things are possible through Christ.  It was the filling of the Holy Spirit that allowed the yokes to be destroyed in Peter’s life.

 

Let’s not be confused, Jesus did not come to destroy the old, but to fulfill it through the new. He did not destroy the law, but added new meaning to it. He did not abolish the blood sacrifice for sin, but fulfilled it through the shedding of His own blood for the remission of sin.

 

Jesus warned about putting new wine into old wineskins. The old wineskins would not be able to hold the new wine just as the net could not hold the fish. The challenge to fulfill God’s plan cannot be accomplished with anything less than a new net in the spirit world.

 

Between the first and the second fishing trips, a new net had been created. These natural fishing incidents were analogies parallels of what had happened in the spirit world.

 

The old yoke must be broken. The old net must be destroyed in order for the new net to hold.  The new net is what Jesus spoke of when He said:  

 

Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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 11:28-30)

 

The three-fold yoke of God:  The yoke of God speaks of a united labor instead of imposed labor. It speaks of lightness instead of heaviness. It is a yoke of rest instead of restlessness.  The three-fold yoke of God is easy, light and restful:

 

Jesus provided three steps to destroy the yoke of bondage that we are tethered to.  It is the way out of the old and into the new:

 

©       Come:  We must willingly come to Him.  This destroys the yoke of sin.

 

©    Take: We must take His yoke and receive His gift of the Holy Spirit.  In doing so, the yoke of man is destroyed and we are no longer tethered to it.

 

©    Learn: By learning of Him we destroy the yoke of self as we apply His knowledge to our lives.

 

The yoke of God is not simply imparted by Him. It is shared by Him.  His spirit is with us; leading and guiding us.

 

Tether yourself to a good line, which in this case, is the word of God.  It is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness -

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

- which not only brings us spiritual success but is our security and our hope in Christ Jesus!

 

 

Biblical Studies