Our yoke

I was just listening to a sermon by Bruxy Cavey and he made reference to that verse in Matthew where Jesus says 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light'. He urges us to take it upon ourselves. What is this yoke? Bruxy suggests that Jesus is talking about taking on a new way of life that is different from the old covenant which was burdensome. Jesus' way of life is easier because it is not based on a list of rules but on a change of heart. It's not that Jesus was giving us a time to sleep or rest physically, but he was showing us that the way forward under him would be easy because the work we would be doing would be restful. As we partner with him and become more like him, we find that his work is easy and wonderful.
This way of looking at this passage really opened my eyes because previously I had a more works oriented view. How could Jesus' yoke be easy when it still required work? But we need a change of heart. That's what Christianity is all about - transformation.

Persecution and ministering

Isn't it amazing that Saul, only a short while after having persecuted the church, could then minister to the very people who he had first persecuted?  I'm thinking of today's reading in Acts 11:19-30.  This passage begins with "Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch..."  and later this passage reads "Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch...".
I've highlighted some key words here.  Saul had been intensely involved in the persecution of Stephen and his fellow Christians.  Then those who had been persecuted went to Antioch, and then Barnabas and Saul go to Antioch as well, staying there for a whole year doing ministry in Jesus' name.  Isn't that incredible!  That transformation is what can happen when God gets involved in our work and we allow him to be the force behind our ministry.  Saul had a lot of trust to build up with the people he was ministering to, as they had firsthand experience with who he had been before he himself became a believer.
If you think you can't follow through on the mission God has given you, think of this Barnabas/Saul story.  If God worked in the heart of Saul and the hearts of his audience to be able to bond together and learn from each other, God can work in your situation as well.