Eyes to See and Ears to Hear

Follow @LawrenceRYoder

Nehemiah's Call

P.O. Box 95

Broadway, VA 22815

540-896-2580

Eyes to See and Ears to Hear

May 15 , 2007

Take an Inventory of Your Cargo

Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV)

V28: Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden (pephortismenoi) and I will give you rest.

V29: Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle (prautes) and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls.

V30: For My yoke is easy and My burden (phortion) is light (elaphros).

Word study:

Prautes = closely connected to meekness. Meekness is the fruit of power. Not occupied with self but wrought in grace of the soul toward God. Meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. It is the state of mind that knows (experientially) the infinite resources of God are at His command. Not man centered but God centered.

Greeks value prautes as long as they look good. Our age has a system designed for man and our strength. Prautes makes God look like God, primarily in our weakness.

Key understandings from this text:

Phortion is an invoice for freight or cargo (a shipping term)
Come and take are imperatives or commands (require exercise of our will)
Labor is present, something we are doing now (picked up wrong cargo)
Heavy laden is perfect passive (something done to us in the past) i.e. childhood, transgressions against us, or could be someone else’s cargo
Will give is future tense and subject is Jesus
Will find is future tense and subject is us

Application for us:

The world gives us its futile labors or its will for our life (our career, our ambition)

Man gives works based salvation (legalism and traditions of man)

Family schedules and priorities (what cargo the husband picks up and brings into the home and vice versa). In this day and age the family must discern the correct cargo.

What is our cargo? What have we put in our boat? Did someone else put their cargo in our boat? Take an inventory of the cargo in our ship. Pray for discernment.

Trade our cargo for His yoke

Conclusion:

There are two types of yoke, one to carry water one to plow with oxen. The yoke of Jesus is one shared. Ultimately it is the will of the Father for our life. If we pick up the wrong cargo there is no grace to carry it. We run out of strength and become weary of its load.

For Further Study:

Zugos, the word for yoke is used:

Matthew 11:29-30
Acts 15:10
Galatians 5:1
1 Timothy 6:1
Revelation 6:5

Related word is heterozugos found in 2 Corinthians 6:14

Means submitted differently

Theme of ship:

Jonah
Sea of Galilee
Acts 27

Written by

Lawrence R. Yoder - Director
Harrisonburg, VA