There is a weariness that goes beyond exhaustion. This kind of weariness weighs down the very soul of a man.”
–Dan Arnold (The Fourth Horseman)
“So take a fresh grip on life and brace your trembling limbs. Don’t wander away from the path but forge steadily onward.”
–Hebrews 12:12-13(Phillips)
———————————-
I want to take a few moments this morning to glean some thoughts from Matthew 10:25. Jesus has been accused of being under the power of the devil, and He is instructing His disciples. In verse 24, He states, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.” (NKJV) He has been teaching His disciples with some quick, hard-hitting truths in this chapter.
Now, look carefully at the first part of verse 25. “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master…” Underline or emphasize the word “enough.” Henry Harbuck translates it this way, “A student should be satisfied to imitate his teacher and attain to his level and share in his fate, and the servant (slave) should be like his master/owner…” Friends, it is enough that we be like the Master. George Morrison says that “the highest praise that can be given to any man is that others, knowing him, should call him Christlike. That is the noblest ideal in the world.”
Oh my, now how does that happen? Can any of us really say that we are “Christlike?” Listen, it only comes about with years of close communion with Him. Life is tough and we often get so involved with life that we don’t take the time or bother to be Christlike. Because of the sternness and the ordeals of life we often become despondent and wonder how we can ever get through it. Here I think of the “weeping Prophet” Jeremiah. But friend, look again–His life, Jesus the Christ–is to be our ideal. “Spirituality is not a vague abstraction; it is growing conformity to Him. And if He was burdened, misunderstood, and sometimes sorrowful even unto death, we must not quarrel with such dark experiences. It is enough that we should be like Him.” (Morrison)
God’s true servants always try to do their best. However, they become exhausted in the work, they become weary in well-doing. But remember, Jesus at one time was so weary that He fell fast asleep, using the deck of a fishing boat for a pillow. On His way to Calvary He fell and could no longer bear the burden of the cross and another one, Simon was called upon to help Him. Jesus became exhausted at times.
“Enough” means as much or as many as required. It is adequate for the want or need; sufficient for the purpose. We are to be satisfied that we are doing “enough.” No, we are not slackers or sluggards as depicted in the Proverbs. We are not lazy, but we seek to be hardy, complete workers for the Lord. We seek to do “all in the name of the Lord,” and with all our might. We stand when we can no longer stand; we toil on when we don’t have the strength to do so; we labor until the hands and legs are weary and then continue in the midst of fatigue to labor more. That is enough.
Morrison has said that giving a cup of water is enough. “Enough is as good as a feast. Enough is satisfaction.” We cannot do more than enough, we are to be satisfied with just doing “enough.” “He who knows us and what is best for us, just as He knows what is in store for us, says it is “enough” that the servant be as his Lord.”
One person whom I greatly admire is Bill Wilson. He said that “the need is the calling.” With that he has given his life to meet the needs of children around the world. Before I heard Bill speak those few words I had the same idea. Being in church all my life, it used to wear on me why we were losing so many of our youth to the world. Through many various circumstances, the Lord brought me to become involved in Christian education. I took that to mean, not only academics, but also discipleship. It became my life to try to disciple kids in the church so that they do not go out into the world. Was I successful? Let me use the words of George Morrison again, “Spiritual work, above all other work, is dogged and haunted by the sense of failure.” He uses the illustrations of men who work getting the job done, of finishing the task, but it is not so with the work of a Christian. There are people lost and dying, there are many who are not heeding discipleship and going out into the world. Failure, I see it when I look at faces of former students on Facebook, not living for the Lord, but for themselves and in the world. Failure! But then I recall what the Master said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34, NKJV) Jesus was not a failure! It is here that I must, and you must realize that “He was there before us–and it is ‘enough’, for the most ardent heart, that the servant be as his Lord.” (Morrison)