Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The happiness and peace that Christ promises are infinite in scope. But please remember that those blessings are all "in Him." If you have suffered a bad deal in life--a heart-breaking divorce, disappointment in love, failure in business or career, rejection by peers, or a battle with cancer (we could go on and on)--as Savior of the world, Christ opens His arms and says "Come," "I have come that [you] may have life, and that [you] may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).
Personified as Wisdom, He cries out, "Blessed is the [person] who listens to Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors, for whoever finds Me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord" (Prov. 8:34, 35). Joel says, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls" (2:32; remember, Mount Zion and Jerusalem, the remnant, mean the church).
Whatever the crushing blow, either emotionally or physically, the Savior says, "Come to Me, ... I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Your heart will sing again, for these words apply: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay [the mud], and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth ..." (Psalm 40:1-3).
But all these blessings are "in Him." That is, you receive them in fellowship with Christ. Your soul is knit with His soul; His thoughts become your thoughts; His aspirations are your aspirations; you live "in Him." His cross becomes your cross; His presence is manifested with you in your loneliness and pain. As He is "made ... who knew no sin to be sin for us," you sense that the sin that weighs Him down is your sin. You identify with Him. You sense that oneness continually; and lo and behold, the "burden" that you carry and the "yoke" you thought was "hard" becomes "light" and "easy" (Matt. 11:30).
The reason is, identifying with Him, being "in Him," He is sharing your "yoke" with you, carrying the heavy part. You have a wholly new perspective on your life. And yes, you sing a "new song."
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 5, 2000.
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