âYou must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.â âDallas Willard.
Is it just me, or does everything feel urgent?
The email needs a reply.
The text bubbles are blinking.
The deadline was yesterday.
Oh, and if you donât post in the next hourâŚwell, good luck with reach.
Weâre living in an age where our timelines have become tyrants.
They donât just demand our attention; they dictate our actions.
If itâs not fast, itâs not fitting.
If itâs not visible, itâs not valuable.
If itâs not immediate, itâs not important.
The problem is, the modern world is made for speed; your soul is not.
We canât go on living like this.
And the good news is, we donât have to.
Hereâs what Jesus (a man who lived a busy life but not a hurried one) says:
âCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.â
No, He wasnât talking about sleep. He was talking about soul relief.
But how can we attain it?
By accepting his two invitations:
âCome to me,â & âTake my yoke upon you and learn from me.â
The first is fairly straightforward, but the second requires more context.
In first-century Judaism, âyokeâ was an idiom used to describe a rabbiâs teaching and the lifestyle expectations that accompanied it. There were yokes of the law, wisdom, and even yokes imposed by political empires. To âtake someoneâs yokeâ meant to come under their authority by submitting to their interpretation of Scripture and embracing their way of life.
In Jesusâ day, disciples werenât just interested in learning about their rabbi; they were committed to becoming like their rabbi. So when Jesus says, âTake my yoke upon you and learn from me,â He is inviting His followers into more than instruction. Heâs inviting them into imitation.
Jesusâ yoke is not about control, but communion. It is an invitation to walk with Him, not just work for Him. To learn from Him is to apprentice in His way, one marked by gentleness and humility that promises rest for the soul.
Reflection Questions
The way of Jesus is accessible to us when we put His words into practice.
So this week, letâs work these words by asking:
Where in my life have I confused urgency with importance?
Whatâs one daily habit I can implement to reclaim my peace?
What would my calendar look like if my soul were a priority, not an afterthought?
Work These Words
Work These Words is the first newsletter from the âwith Sean Dreherâ Substack. It focuses on exploring the words of Jesus and how to put them into practice in the modern world.
The name comes from Eugene Petersonâs paraphrase of Matthew 7:24-25 in The Message:
âThese words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hitâbut nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.â
Most times, I write alone. Occasionally, Iâll invite members of the ministerial team from Kingdom South to lend their voices. But always, the aim is the same: to help you work the words of Jesus into your life.
Happy trails.