Welcome to the Daily Disciple Podcast, where we seek daily to be with and to become like Jesus, our teacher. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Daily, and welcome to a new season of the podcast. This season of the podcast is for those that want to partner with God and be about the business that God is about in His world. I mean, that's the big picture.
And that starts and really continues and ends, if we could call that an end, but it starts and it continues with choosing to be the kind of person that is seeking to connect and enjoy Jesus as a person experiencing Jesus. And so this season of the podcast, the next four weeks, the next five weeks or so, we're going to focus in on the simplicity and the beautiful invitation to just connect and to enjoy Jesus as a person. And we're going to be in all different kinds of scriptures throughout the Old and New Testament. This morning, we're going to be in Matthew chapter 11.
And I would not be able to do this season of the podcast without a few people having been in my life. And one of those people is my mother. Remember, she has experienced the depths of Jesus and talks about it all the time. It's beautiful.
I've read a great deal of Thomas Merton and Henry Nowen and Andrew Murray and Richard Foster and Thomas Kempis and Madame Guyon. And they all talk about experiencing Jesus. And they all talk about how experiencing Jesus is much easier and much simpler than we've imagined. They all demystify, although they would probably not use that phrase.
But I think in our modern world, being with Jesus needs to be demystified. It's much simpler than I think we tend to imagine. And I think we imagine that it's complicated. And so we avoid it.
And we miss out on the enjoyment of Jesus, experiencing the depths of Jesus. Because Jesus says, if you seek, you're going to find. And that's a promise that as we sincerely seek. And, of course, that means time and intentionality.
Although, as we continue through this season of the podcast, we need to put the idea of intentionality and effort on the table. Because those ideas need to be nuanced as we go along. But certainly, it will involve time and a desire to seek. And as we seek, there's a promise.
And that promise is that you will find. And the truth is, nothing compares to finding. I mean, Jesus is life and light and beauty and pleasure and enjoyment. And if we could conceive of God's goodness toward us, the only thing that we would desire is to be with him.
And so, this season of the podcast, we're going to talk about it. It's going to be a time where we're going to lean into that childlike faith, like a child approaching the Father. A Father who delights in a child approaching the Father. Because, as Jesus says, unless we become like little children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven and experience the joy that is found there.
And that joy is not even able to be measured. I mean, God delights in dwelling with his children. And Jesus says, come to me, all of you that are hungry. Come to me, all of you that are thirsty.
Come to me, all of you that are weary and burdened. And I will give you rest. And the reality is, we do hunger, we thirst, we're weary, we're burdened. And Jesus summons us to be with him and experience him as a person.
And so, the passage I want to read this morning is just a wonderful, wonderful passage about being summoned to be with Jesus. And find the joy in the rest. And that is Matthew chapter 11, beginning in verse 26. Jesus is praying to his Father, and he says, yes, Father, for this is what you're pleased to do.
All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father. And no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all of you that are weary and burdened.
And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me. I'm gentle.
I'm humble. And you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Now, first of all, this is a prayer, and that's amazing, between the Father and the Son, where the Son is celebrating the Father's pleasure. And what is the Father's pleasure, right?
The Father knows the Son. The Son knows the Father. And then Jesus shifts to us, to whom the Son chooses to reveal the Father. So we have this incredible Trinitarian relationship between the Father and the Son.
And we're invited into that to experience that, to experience the rest and the security and the wonderfulness of being within the family that we've been looking for all of our lives. And then Jesus just makes it explicit. Come to me. All of you that are weary and all of you that are burdened.
I'm gentle. I'm humble. You're going to find rest. My yoke is easy.
My burden is light. And the truth is, when it's all said and done, Christianity is about being with a person, enjoying a person, now and forever. And, of course, a whole life and eternity flows out of that. But it is about Jesus.
And so, again, this season of the podcast is going to be about us maybe returning to keeping the main thing the main thing or making sure that the main thing is the main thing, because there's nothing as wonderful as knowing Jesus, as hearing the voice of Jesus, as connecting with Jesus and experiencing the depths of Jesus. And, of course, there's going to be mountains, which we love, and valleys, which are difficult. There's going to be green pastures and the valley of the shadow of death. And we're going to talk about all that.
But right now, let's just say a few things to Jesus as we meditate on his words. Like, Jesus, I need you. Jesus, I want you. Jesus, I love you.
Because you love me first. I want to abandon myself to you. I want you to pull down my guard, my defenses, my pretense. I'm sorry for keeping you at arm's distance.
You know, like a child, I want to run into your arms. I want to be known by you. I want to know you. I want to experience all your wonderfulness.
And you could go on. I'm going to give my life to it every day, all of my effort, everything that I have. And remember, there's a simplicity to this. Being with Jesus is the least complicated thing that there is.
It's like breathing. It's more natural than anything else. Jesus is not difficult to attain. That's what this passage is saying.
The Son is revealing a father and son relationship to all who would come to him to seek him. He's gentle. He's humble in heart. Jesus is not difficult to attain.
He's made himself utterly attainable to me and to you. And this season of the podcast comes from a desire in my heart that we would be the kind of people in the kind of community that would wholly give ourselves to God completely and totally and discover the joy that can only be found in that place. And so here are the words of Jesus before we take a moment just to meditate and to enjoy him and to lean into him. He says, come to me, all of you that are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
We'll talk soon. Thanks for listening to the Daily Disciple Podcast. We truly hope that you were encouraged by it today. Now, if you would like to support or if you had any questions about the Daily Disciple Podcast, feel free to contact us through our Inland Vineyard Church app.
We'll give you information on our ministries and our Sunday services, and you can find us in the Apple and Google Play app stores. And we also have our social media pages, which you can find with the tag at Inland Vineyard to see what's going on with our community, our church events, and our other ministries, as well as our Revival Youth Group and our children's ministry. Or you can just check us out on our website at inlandvineyard.org. We'll see you next time.
And then, if you have any questionsini, we'll see you next time. Here, let's see. Thank you.