After a 4-week absence due to my knee surgery, I will be returning to the pulpit at Bethany tomorrow, June 16th. As such I will also be returning with a message entitled "Come, Follow Me."

It is interesting to note that the invitation to become His disciple was most typically conveyed to those bidden by this phrase, "Come, follow me." The invitation to follow was often to connected to a specific task such as "making them fishers of men." However, there is a passage in Matthew 11: 28-29 often quoted for its encouragement to weary souls. Upon further examination, the invitation is not simply to "come and find rest" but to come and follow in order to do Kingdom work more efficiently and with less mental and emotional strain.

Eugene Peterson in his Biblical Translation/Paraphrase "The Message, quotes it like this: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Notice, "walk with me and work with me" in the same yoke. Yoked up together with Jesus we can get more accomplished because we learn to do it "His Way." Perhaps the reason we don't get more done for the Savior is we keep trying "our way". Frank Sinatra was dead wrong when he sang, "I did it my way." There can be only one way, His way, in the unforced rhythms of His grace.