I want to invite you to exercise your sanctified imagination for a moment and consider the notion of being in two places at the same time. At first glance you might be thinking, “That sure would be helpful to get everything done!” As a dad of three kids under five years old, I certainly would love this to be true, especially during meals and bedtimes! While this idea seems like a silly departure from reality, we as Christians can actually live at two levels.

Think about it.

At one level, as you are reading this, you are living in the kingdom of this world that’s full of a mixture of good and bad, beauty and destruction, joy and sorrow, life and death. Yet at another level, as a Christian, you are also living in the kingdom of God. This realm is our true home and is marked by peace, unity, steadfast love, harmony, and intimate ongoing communion with Christ. The two levels of living exist at the same time.

Christian devotional writer Thomas Kelly coined the term “simultaneity” as a way to describe how we can live at two levels. He writes,

“What is here urged are internal practices and habits of the mind… ways of conducting our inward life so that we are perpetually bowed in worship, while we are also very busy in the world of daily affairs… On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all of the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness in divine breathings.”^[1]

So there is a way of life that can be learned which enables us to live simultaneously. A way to live from the inside out.

Perhaps the following metaphor would be helpful: South African pastor and writer, Andrew Murray, once likened the Christian life to a tree that has both the external and internal. Externally, you have what’s visible in the trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit. But internally, you have the hidden root system that is simultaneously at work receiving the necessary nutrients to sustain, grow, and mature the tree.

To press into this idea further for a few moments, consider how many aspects of our life function simultaneously. Right now as you are reading this you are breathing (hopefully!), blood is pumping through your veins, synapses are firing in your brain, and your digestive system is processing your last meal and disseminating the nutrients into your body. God created numerous systems in our physical bodies to function simultaneously, and these aspects are also true of the spiritual body we belong to as members of Christ’s body, the Church.

You might be sitting down at your dining room table or office chair while reading this, but at the same time the Scriptures testify that we are “seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). You are likely a citizen of an earthly domain such as the United States or another country, but at the same time “your citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). You might have participated in corporate worship this past weekend at your local church, but at the same time did you realize you were also joining in on the unceasing 24/7/365 worship happening around the throne of God in heaven?

The truth is that you and I can be cultivating a hidden life of communion with our Creator while simultaneously being visibly active and present to the world around us. Living simultaneously is not about speeding up to increase productivity, but rather slowing down to deepen relational intimacy.

The truth is that you and I can be cultivating a hidden life of communion with our Creator while simultaneously being visibly active and present to the world around us. Living simultaneously is not about speeding up to increase productivity, but rather slowing down to deepen relational intimacy.

In order to live into this reality I want to invite us to consider with fresh eyes the words of one who is simultaneously God and man, and to learn from Him the pathway to live a life marked by peace and rest. In Matthew 11:25-30 we find a profound invitation and call to rest. Returning to Murray’s tree analogy, we can discover in this passage three “roots of rest” to develop in order to live with a Spirit-directed simultaneity.

The Root of Simultaneous Thanksgiving

The setting of this passage is sandwiched between scenes where Jesus was misunderstood, doubted, and rejected, all while being challenged and falsely accused. I find it fascinating and so counterintuitive that despite this circumstance, Jesus erupts in thanksgiving. “At that time…Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father…’” (Matthew 11:25). It is said of Jesus that He never said anything He didn’t hear the Father saying, or do anything He didn’t see the Father doing (cf. John 5:19, 30). It’s almost as if this scene depicts Jesus making audible and visible the ongoing conversation He is having with His Father while simultaneously speaking and ministering to those around Him.

We see here in Jesus’ prayer of thanksgiving a remarkable declaration of who the Father is and a stark contrast between what He decides to hide and reveal to people. He declares that His Father is the “Lord of heaven and earth.” His rule is simultaneously over heaven and earth. This mirrors what Jesus had already taught in His model prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, showing both God’s intimacy and holiness. God is also, in His sovereign wisdom, simultaneously concealing the kingdom to the proud while revealing it to the humble. If you are reading this, I encourage you to stop right now and simply thank the Father for making His kingdom known to you!

Being thankful brings rest because it puts us in the center of God’s gracious will (Matthew 11:26). When the Apostle Paul (one who endured numerous trials and sufferings) wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you,” he was writing about exactly what Jesus modeled and makes possible for you and I to imitate.  There’s never a time when we cannot give thanks. We can be right in the middle of the mundane or in the center of a cyclone of difficulty, yet at the same time be thankful.

Being thankful cultivates true rest because it helps us see life from God’s perspective. I love the way Psalm 69:30 puts it: “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” When we magnify something, we are choosing to make it the focal point of our perspective. Rather than viewing God through our circumstances, thanksgiving flips the script so that we can see our circumstances through Christ.

Rather than viewing God through our circumstances, thanksgiving flips the script so that we can see our circumstances through Christ.

Thanksgiving also cultivates rest because it fosters contentment and short-circuits our culture’s current of always striving for more. I believe this is the secret that Paul would later speak of in learning to be content in plenty and in want (Philippians 4:12).

The Root of Simultaneous Surrendering

Next, Jesus makes this astonishing claim: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).

This is kingdom talk…a statement that Jesus is the king and has everything under His loving control and sovereign authority. This brings us the needed assurance that alleviates our anxiety and dispels our fear of the unknown.

This truth brings real rest for our souls because Jesus is the only one who knows the Father and is the only one who can make the Father known. Look at the repeated word “know.” This word conveys not a mere knowledge about something, but an intimate, relational knowledge.

Beloved, rest comes when we too can have this kind of intimate, relational knowledge of  the One who has all authority. If He is the one who is offering rest, we trust that He can provide what He’s offering! We are invited into the same intimate, unceasing communion that exists between the Father and the Son. This is the aching desire of every soul.

It was Augustine, the church father of the 4th century, who profoundly summarized, “Our souls will forever be restless until they find their rest in Thee.” We are released from our illusion of control when we prayerfully surrender our entire lives into the sovereign hands of our Maker.

We are released from our illusion of control when we prayerfully surrender our entire lives into the sovereign hands of our Maker.

The Root of Simultaneous Responding

As you and I go about our day with its demands, duties, and obligations it’s easy to get pulled into a downward spiral towards burnout. While it would be a severe understatement to say that life is hard, there is a way to simultaneously shoulder the weight of life with ease.

No, I’m not trying to sell you some gimmick, the next best self-help strategy, or a trending productivity hack. I am saying that if we take Jesus at His word and develop a habit of responding day in and day out, over time we will learn to live in the way of our Rabbi, who issued this soul renewing invitation:

“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).

I encourage you to stop once more. Re-read this holy invitation, slowly. Remember, Scripture isn’t meant to be skimmed, but savored. It’s not to be rushed through, but ruminated on. We can only do this by slowing down.

I believe we find in this invitation the secret to living a simultaneous life. To sum it up, we can live simultaneously when we are yoked with Jesus. Notice that this call is to “all who labor and are heavy laden.” Labor here refers to exerting yourself physically, mentally, or spiritually, while heavy laden conveys the burdens that others might place on us in terms of meeting expectations, demands, or obligations. In other words, life is hard!

But while the promise of receiving rest is inclusively offered, it is exclusively found in Jesus for those who bow their heads unto His yoke. Now, the image of a yoke may be lost on us 21st-century Christians. What is Jesus doing here? He’s getting beautifully practical by employing an amazing metaphor of discipleship.

A yoke was a frame made of wood, or sometimes metal, that was placed over the shoulders of two animals to control and spread out the weight they were intended to pull. A yoke was also used to describe the law which the Jewish youth undertook to bind themselves to in the bar mitzvah ceremony. It was an act of loyal commitment and pledged obedience.

But notice what Jesus says next: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” This is a call to discipleship. To literally learn the ways, the lifestyle, and the rhythms of Jesus Himself.

Often a yoke of oxen would consist of a younger, stubborn, untrained ox being partnered with an older, meek, and trained ox so that the younger would learn how to trust the one driving the oxen in the field. So on one hand, Jesus is again making the astonishing claim that His yoke, or way of living, brings the kind of life that the law could not and was never meant to produce. The law only increased striving. On the other hand, Jesus is saying that becoming loyally obedient to Him, trusting Him, and believing Him will bring about a kind of rest that everyone is looking for, and that we so desperately need.

Yet it’s important to note that rest here doesn’t necessarily mean cessation of work or activity, but a ceasing of striving. Notice how Jesus juxtaposes a yoke, which is a work instrument, and rest. We can simultaneously be working (partnered with Jesus in His work) and also be at rest. Interestingly, the root of our English word simultaneous comes from the Latin word “simul,” which has the connotation of “same” or “together.”^[2] Living a simultaneous life means living a life together with Jesus in such a way that His hands are the same as our hands, His feet the same as our feet, and His heart the same as our heart. We are so fused and united with Him that His life becomes our life.

Living a simultaneous life means living a life together with Jesus in such a way that His hands are the same as our hands, His feet the same as our feet, and His heart the same as our heart. We are so fused and united with Him that His life becomes our life.

Yet once again this call to get yoked is rooted in the very heart of Christ. Notice it says “for,” which brings the purpose for why we would, or rather why we can be yoked to Jesus. What is Jesus’ heart like? Charles Spurgeon once poignantly observed that in the four gospel accounts, or 89 chapters, there is only one place where Jesus reveals His heart.

Christian author Dane Ortlund picked up on this observation and insightfully wrote:

…the one place in the Bible where the Son of God pulls back the veil and lets us peer way down into the core of who he is, we are not told that he is “austere and demanding in heart.” We are not told that he is “exalted and dignified in heart.” We are not even told that he is “joyful and generous in heart.” Letting Jesus set the terms, his surprising claim is that he is “gentle and lowly in heart.”^[3]

Ortlund goes on to expound upon this astonishing revelation of Jesus’ heart by saying:

The meaning of the word “lowly” overlaps with that of “gentle,” together communicating a single reality of his heart. The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible. For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ. No prerequisites. No hoops to jump through.^[4]

So when we respond by coming to Jesus with our burdens, we get His rest. His rest is for our souls; it’s not a transaction, but a gift.

The last observation about this root to cultivate is what Jesus says about His yoke. He gives us another purpose clause by saying, “for…” After describing what His heart is like, He tells us what His yoke is like.

Jesus’ yoke is unlike any other yoke. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. This does not mean that the way of Jesus is less demanding or difficult than that of Judaism, but that it is, in fact, more. As followers of Jesus, we not only take up Jesus’ yoke of rest; later on in Matthew Jesus also says we must take up our cross of dying to self so that we might truly live. Yet instead of being a heavy burden of duty or striving, it is a yoke of love, freedom, and peace.

One Christian author put it this way:

People all over the world – outside the church and in – are looking for an escape, a way out from under the crushing weight to life this side of Eden. But there’s no escaping it. The best the world can offer is a temporary distraction to delay the inevitable or deny the inescapable.

That’s why Jesus doesn’t offer us an escape. He offers us something far better: “equipment.” He offers his apprentices a new way to bear the weight of our humanity with ease. At his side. Like two oxen in a field, tied shoulder to shoulder. With Jesus doing all the heavy lifting. At his pace. Slow, unhurried, present to the moment, full of love and joy and peace.

An easy life isn’t an option; an easy yoke is. ^[5]

A simultaneous life is available to us as well. May we move forward today and this next week cultivating the roots of simultaneously thanking, surrendering, and responding to Jesus, who offers His abundant life of peace and rest.

I’m bowing my head unto Jesus’ yoke today. Who’s with me?

Copyright © 2022 Justin Jeppesen. All rights reserved.

Justin most recently served as a pastor and professor at the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, MN. He led hundreds of young adults, along with other staff, in the rhythms of prayer and the ministry of the word. Before serving in his role at Northwestern, Justin spent 10 years in pastoral ministry at a local church, where he was first introduced to Strategic Renewal and is a graduate of two coaching cohorts. Along with being a board member he also serves on our speaking team. Justin and his wife of 12 years, Maddy, have three kids and live in St. Paul, where they get to experience all the wonderful seasons God has created!

^[1] Thomas Kelly, A Testament of Devotion.

^[2] “Simultaneous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/simultaneous. Accessed 28 Jan. 2022.

^[3] Ortlund, Dane C.. Gentle and Lowly (p. 18). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

^[4]  Ortlund, Dane C.. Gentle and Lowly (p. 18). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

^[5] Comer, John Mark. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. WaterBrook. 2019. p.88