What My Father Taught Me

My great-grandfather, my grandfather, and my father were all carpenters. I grew up with the smell of wood sawdust in the air. I have a brass plaque on my tool box containing the words, "I am the son of a carpenter." It is there because many of the things that I learned from my father have guided me over the years in my spiritual journey.

He always measured, remeasured, and measured again, which appeared to me to be an annoying waste of time. When he asked me to cut an expensive eight-foot piece of lumber into four equal pieces, I did it my way.

Measuring the length, dividing it by four, and making straight pencil marks using my try square, I used my recently sharpened cross-cut saw to cut the lumber into four pieces.

When I placed the pieces on end to check my work, you guessed it! They were all different lengths. I had failed on three counts — only measuring once, not allowing for the width of each saw cut, as well as wanting to do it my way.

Jesus was also a carpenter and the son of a carpenter. When Jesus was teaching His disciples, He remembered Joseph's teaching Him how to shape a wooden yoke, which was carefully fitted on the necks of two animals so that they could pull a plough or cart together equally without injuring their necks.

Matthew 11:28-30 – Come to Me, all you 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. (NKJV)

The spiritual implication in these verses is an invitation to allow Jesus to put His yoke on us and learn from Him, the Master Teacher Himself, by giving Jesus control of our lives and letting Him direct our efforts. When we follow His instructions, the work that He has for us to do will not be as difficult as if we did it alone.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word, which guides us through life and directs us in the way that we should go. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our teacher in this darkened world. Help us to harness our hearts and lives to Jesus and learn from Him each day, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light, and in Him, there is rest for our souls. Thank You that we have not been left to bear our problems and the pain of life alone. Use us, we pray, to point others who are distressed and burdened with sin to Jesus. In His name, we pray. Amen!