CHRIST YOUR TEACHER

"Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:29).

The first virtue of a pupil is a willingness to be taught. What does this imply? He must have an awareness of his own ignorance, a readiness to give up his own way of thinking or doing. He must look at things from the teacher's standpoint. He must have a quiet confidence that the master knows and will show him how to learn to know, too. The meek and lowly spirit listens carefully to know what the teacher's will is and how to carry it out. If a pupil has this kind of spirit, it must be the teacher's fault if he does not learn.

Why is it that, with Christ as our teacher, there is so much failure and so little real growth in spiritual knowledge? Why is there so much hearing and reading of the Bible, so much profession of faith in it as our only rule of life, and yet such a lack of the manifestation of its spirit and its power? Why is there so much honest, earnest application in the prayer closet and in Bible study, but little of the joy and strength God's Word could give? This question is one of extreme importance.

There must be some reason why there are so many disciples of Jesus who think they honestly desire to know and do His will, and yet, by their own confession, they are not holding forth the Word of life as a light in the world. If the answer to this question could be found, their lives would be changed.

Learning From Christ

"Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Many have taken Christ as Savior but not as Teacher. They have put their trust in Him as the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep, but they know little of the reality of His daily shepherding His flock, calling everyone by name, hearing His voice, or following Him alone.

They know little about following the Lamb of receiving from Him the lamb nature. They seldom seek to be like Him, meek and lowly in heart. It was by their three-year course in His school that Christ's disciples were equipped for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the fulfillment of all the wonderful promises He had given them. As we daily wait for, receive, and follow Christ's teaching, we can truly find rest to our souls. All the weariness and burden of strain, failure, and disappointment give way to that divine peace which knows that all is being cared for by Christ Himself.

This teachable spirit that refuses to know or do anything in its own wisdom is to be the spirit of our whole life, every day and all day long. In the morning hour, this spirit is to be cultivated, and deliverance from self is to be achieved. It is there, while occupied with the words of God, that we need daily to realize that these words have value only as they are opened up by the personal teaching of Christ. We daily need to experience that as the living Lord Jesus comes near and takes charge of us, His teaching can be received. It is during this quiet time that we must definitely ask and cultivate the teachable spirit that takes up His yoke and learns of Him.

It is said of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the Spirit of Christ Jesus, "He shall teach you all things" (John 14:26). If His whole life and work in us is a divine teaching, then we must have this teachable spirit within us. This will make our communion with God's Word and our daily life what our Lord Jesus can make it.

Unlearning And Humility

Unlearning is often the most important part of learning: wrong impressions, prejudices, and beliefs are obstacles in the way of learning. Until these have been removed, the teacher labors in vain. The knowledge he communicates only touches the surface. Deep under the surface, the pupil is guided by what has become second nature to him. The first work of the teacher is to discover, to make the pupil see, and remove these hindrances.

There can be no true and faithful learning about Christ when we are not ready to unlearn. By heredity, by education, by tradition, we have established our thoughts about religion and God's Word, which are often great hindrances to our learning the truth. To learn of Christ requires a willingness to subject every truth we hold to His inspection for criticism and correction.

Humility is the root virtue of the Christian life. The law is absolute in God's Kingdom— "He that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 23:12). Our disappointment in striving after higher degrees of grace, faith, spiritual knowledge, and love depends upon this law. We have not accepted the humility of Christ as the beginning and the perfection of His salvation.

"God giveth grace to the humble" (James 4:6) has a far wider and deeper application than we think. In the morning watch we place ourselves as learners in Christ's school. Let humility be the distinguishing mark of the learner. Let us listen to the voice that says, "Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: And ye shall find rest to your souls."