Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light.
Matthew 11:28-30
Here we find the invitation to all who are weary and burdened to run to Jesus for respite.
We get weary from the worries and cares of life. We get tired from the sorrows we face, and the heavy loads we often carry.
There is restlessness in our souls because of these things.
Most likely, it is our sin that weighs us down most of all. If we live with unconfessed sin, we live with guilt and shame.
These things compile into one heavy burden.
But Jesus calls us by name, welcomes us into His presence and asks us to cast our cares on Him.
We can go to Jesus with our shame, guilt and sin because He is gentle and kind and merciful.
Nothing surprises Him either. There is no sin that Jesus won’t forgive if we are sincerely repentant and sorry. That means we take up the yoke Jesus speaks of in Matthew 11.
The dictionary defines yoke as a harness used by oxen to ease the work of carrying a load.
Jesus instructs us to take His yoke upon us. That means we are submitting our lives and our lifestyles to Jesus.
It means leaning on Him for help and doing things His way. That yoke (harness) becomes light because as we follow Jesus and do things His way, our lives rest upon Him. He helps us; he carries our burdens and lifts the guilt and shame for sin from us. It is a lighter way of living than wallowing in the pain of darkness, misery, and unatoned for sin. When we make amends with Jesus for the guilt we carry, the burden becomes light.
It is only a hard heart that refuses forgiveness that can’t receive mercy, refuses to change with the help, grace, and power of Jesus.
Being yoked to Jesus means we serve Him and obey Him. We live for Him and communicate with Him.
People don’t like the idea of “obeying” anyone. We like to be our own boss. But that is exactly what Jesus is asking of us.
When you think of it, serving someone who is kind, merciful, slow to anger, and loving is so much easier than serving someone who wants to kill us, steal from us, and destroy us. Those are the two masters we serve in life. Jesus or Satan. Who are you serving today? One or the other?
For me, with all my burdens, sin and rottenness, I will go to Jesus. I know I need Him to make my burden light. And He has and He will and He makes my burden light! It means asking Him daily to help me turn from sin and do things His way. And I will because what is the other option? To roll in the muck and mire and stay stuck with a ton of a burden on my back? No thanks.
So today, as you reflect on the days of your life, ask yourself if you want a heavy burden that weighs you down and eventually keeps you in constant bondage? Or do you want to follow and obey the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who sets us free from the tyranny of living in our sin and misery?
Come…to Jesus.
Come…to the one who will lift the burdens and give rest to your weary soul.
Come… to the one whose yoke is easy.
Come… home to Jesus.