Carry His Name and Watch Change Part 6 of the “Inserted” Series

We are all called to influence someone.  We are called to be a catalyst in someone’s life. The older brother or sister influences the younger brother or sister. A senior employee at a business during training influences the conduct and profitability of a new employee to the business. You create a new program to improve time management for working parents. On social media you can see the dearth of people who believe that have “some thing” to influence other people. Thousands of people are online to show you what they eat in a day, what exercise program they follow, who they like or don’t like, who they follow. The other thousands of people are looking at what is being offered. You witness their potential to influence by the number of hits they have received on their page. People even get online to show you how to conduct criminal activity; how to be irresponsible

We know that we all have some gifts/talents/abilities that are unique to our individual selves. Even if you have not been regularly encouraged, there is something on the inside that tells you there is more. How those creative juices are harnessed depends upon who you are yoked to. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright. (Leviticus 26:13) God, through Moses, led the Israelites out of captivity from Egypt where they had been slaves for the last 4oo years. Their task were burdensome bending their backs. Now have the opportunity and ability to walk upright. They had an opportunity to receive what God had promised them as a nation of people.

The definition of yoke is bondage or servitude. Yokes were wooden bars designed to harness draft animals to work together to pull heavy loads. When we are engaged in activities that causes burdens on other people we are not operating as the catalyst that God wants us to be in other people’s lives. In essence, we are yoking people into servitude to ideas that we have invented, created or engaged in. Not only does that cause bondage and servitude in our sphere of influence, but we also become yoked to the long term outcome of that lawless use of given talents. When we are not “yoked” to Jesus then our moral compass may not weigh the consequences of that use of gifts/talents.

The yoke that Jesus provides is to guide us into the best that we can be according to his divine plan and in His image. “Take my 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 11:29-30) If you have not yielded to Jesus - you may have set a path to become the next gang leader instead of a corporate executive.  Your understanding of chemistry can have you be a chemical terrorist instead of finding healthy nontoxic ways to improve crop growth. Your ability to influence large masses of young people can have you use them as mules instead of showing them how to create and implement new ideas/fashions/opportunities/inventions etc.

You have to decide if you want to be yoked to Jesus. The yoke He provides is an everlasting covenant relationship. The yoke He provides contain His word that you can trust in. When you are yoked to Jesus, you will find that you are unconditionally loved and He knows your name. For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)

You will find that with repentance you can start the clock again. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) By being yoked to Jesus, there is a course direction change and it will not be burdensome.

We saw in this series, the course corrections and advancements that took place when our main characters obeyed God. All of our characters did not have titles. But a change took place because their actions allowed someone to meet God.

There are so many opportunities for you to be the catalyst for a name change in someone else’s life. Remember you are yoked to Him if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. When someone encounters you, they should see Jesus and want to receive what He has for them.
Change always takes place when Jesus is brought into the scene. You can do this as an “inserted person.”