Jesus: The Cord of Human Kindness

Daily Reading: Hosea 11

I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.  I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. (Hosea 11.4, NIV)

Devotional Thought: When the Lord "found" Israel – enslaved in Egypt with no hope and no future – he was determined to deliver them.  So, he raised up a redeemer (Moses) to deliver them, giving them a human face to lead them.  “When they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped” (Exodus 4.31).  The coming of Moses was a precursor to God sending his Son to deliver us.  Jesus displayed – by his appearance as a man – the face of God’s loving kindness.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…”  Even now, God is in the process of leading us back to him with the cord of human kindness.

The Israelites were under a heavy yoke to their Egyptian taskmasters.  God saw the injustice being done to them.  God remembered the promise given to Abraham six centuries before.  He was now determined to fulfill that promise to bring them out of the land of slavery.  At first, it seemed harder for the Israelites, as their Egyptian overlords increased the demands on them.  But God did not stop until the yoke of slavery was completely lifted. 

God also remembers the promise made in the Garden of Eden six millennia ago – a promise to crush Satan’s death grip on humanity.  He says to us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11.28-30).

Whatever your burden, turn to the Lord to lift the yoke from your neck.

Prayer: I praise you today, Lord, for your loving kindness.  You have tied yourself to us with a human cord - your Son, our Savior.  I bring my burdens to you.  I take on your yoke, which is easy and light.  I pray this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 84.8-12

"O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah. Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!"