Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1917-05-09
SECRET OF REST
Taking christ's Yoke Upon Us
Means Help and Rest in
Bearing Life's Load.

want to consider the secret Of rest,
and to do so under the guidance of the
New Testament. There is this advan-
tage about the subject, it is certainly
not remote from the urgent call of COM
mon need. There is suggestion OF
WEAKNESS about the majority of US, q
look of strain and tiredness as though
we were burdened with the greatness
of the way; there is surely a holy
urgency that we try to find the secret
of Gods rest.
There are one or two distinctions
we must make before we can clearly
think of a really royal spiritual rest.
Rest is not ease. Ease is doing moth
ing; rest is fullness of strefgth to Go
what we need to do. Ease is rust,
not rest. Ease is the feeling OF indol-
ence; rest is the sense of power. Ease
evades it's task; rest feels level with
it and still has strength to spare. Ease
is to lie down; rest is to walk with
God. And then again, rest is not iso-
lation. We do not obtain rest by cut
ting ourselves adrift from the human
calls and needs of our fellowmen.
Rest Is Fruit of Restoration.
Rest is the fruit of restoration. 1t
is life ever being filled with the I'M
parted life Of God. So that the SYM
Dol of rest is not man lying on a
bed, but tree rooted in some wealthy
bed and drawing up into all its
branches, and into every twig and
leaf, the vigor which will make it in
vincible in the fiercest days Of
drought. So that at the very founda-
ton of things rest is just a wealthy
sense of the immediate presence and
power of our gracious God.
How, then do we come into possess
sion of this rich and beautiful rest?
What guidance does the New Testa-
ment give to us? Let US turn to the
teachings of the Lord. "Take my yoke
upon YOU and learn Of me and
We shall find rest" There are two
sorts of yokes, single yokes and double
yokes. The single yoke is for the sin
gle OK who pulls his load without a
partner. The double yoke is for pair
Of oxen, each sharing the burden OF the
other. And in human life there are two
sorts of yokes, and can choose which
I will wear. I can wear single one,
or can accept the double one which is
offered me by Christ. The Lord says
to me: 81 bring thee double yoke In
exchange for the single one! My yoke
is for two! Take my yoke upon you
and let us pull the load together" )"
When / wear the single collar | con-
front everything in my Individual
strength. When wear the double col
lar I face everything in partnership
it is the fellowship of the Lord and me.
Divine Fellowship.
Now this is the first and primary
secret Of rest. The restful life is born
of divine fellowship. We are to accept
the yoke-fellow and plow every furrow
with him. This is precisely what the
apostle meant when he made his
triumphant boast: II can do all things
through Christ, who strengtheneth
me!'
So it is needful that we examine our
yokes and ascertain whether we are
pulling our load in single collar or in
communion with Christ. That heavy
load Of anxieties which have been
dragging about for some years! Let
me examine my collar. Am regarding
it as a merely individual burden, or am
I casting my burden on the Lord? And
there is that big load of small worries,
and a number Of small worries can be
extraordinarily burdensome. A load OF
sand is heavier than a load Of larger
stones.
Tiny Worries.
a heap of tiny worries can be more
depressing than three or four larger
carese, What am 1 doing with them
For Ne strange thing about this sort
of burden is that when we yoke up
with Jesus we often leave the cart be-
hind! Then there is that bit Of diftl-
cult road I am travelling, full of ruts
and holes, and with many steep grad
tents, so that in many places 1t is
scarcely road at all. What hard pull
it is for soul! What am doing with
1t? Am using the single collar or the
double yoke? Is it lonely travail or
is it a divine communion? "Take my
woke upon YOU" This is the secret OF
essential rest.-Rev. j. 81. Jowett, u. u.