“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
Do you hear the sigh of relief? Do you understand the refreshing release when the debilitating burden that has bent you low is removed? How marvelous and joyful is the lighter load! But how often do you experience this amazing reality?
Consider the Invitation
The God Who is over all the Universe has made Himself fully disclosed through His Son, Jesus Christ. And the incarnate God – Christ Himself, desires to carry your burdens. He has invited you to come to Him with your burdens in a very unique and personal way.
Jesus had previously called the disciples with, “come after me” (Matthew 4:19). But here in relationship to the burdens of life, Jesus said more directly, “come to me.” How amazing that our Lord said, “come to me.” Jesus did not say, go there to a church. He did not say, seek out a friend or a resource. Jesus said, “come to me.” This actually fulfills Jeremiah’s words when he announced on behalf of God, “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint” (Jeremiah 31:25). So, if you are discouraged, faint in heart, overwhelmed, or just plain tired, then you are the perfect recipient for Jesus’ invitation: “come to me.”
Jesus has expressed serious interest in your burdens, and more particularly the pressure your burdens relentlessly place upon your shoulders. In essence, God has invited you to Himself personally with the desire that you would become yoked with Jesus. In this way, your burdens remain your responsibility, for our Lord would not have you to dispose any responsibility that is rightly yours.
“For each one should carry their own load.” (Galatians 6:5)
However, when yoked with Christ, you accept the responsibility but not the total weight, for Jesus has said, “take my yoke upon you and it will be light.”
Consider the Yoke
Some in Jesus’ own context heard in His word “yoke” the reference to a long wooden bar that joins two animals together for the purpose of pulling a wagon or a plow. Jesus used the term figuratively in the sense of a teacher or rabbi’s relationship with his followers. But, instead of the demanding yoke of legalism, which was too often the experience of Judaism, Jesus offered a yoke of love, grace, and forgiveness. His yoke represents the relationship.
Consider the Burden-free Life
Jesus described the burdened life as one who labors. “To labor” represents the active form of life’s stressors that come from one who is expended with much effort. “Heavy-laden” represents the passive form of life’s stressors that come from being under the oppression of something – in our case, the oppression of a fallen world. These two descriptors represent the wretched weight of this world. And Jesus has introduced Himself as the burden bearer for all mankind who promises soul rest for the weary. When yoked with our Savior, we are held firmly in relationship with all the blessings of the Gospel. The soul becomes fulfilled with that for which it was designed, and there no longer exists that pervasive restlessness that expresses the burdens of this world. The beloved pastor John Gill offered the following definition for soul rest:
Spiritual rest here is defined by peace of conscience, ease of mind, tranquility of soul, through an application of pardoning grace, a view of free justification by the righteousness of Christ, and full atonement of sin by his sacrifice; and eternal rest hereafter in the arms of Jesus, in perfect and uninterrupted communion with Father, Son, and Spirit.
With such a powerful picture of rest, who would not desire to be yoked with our Savior? So today, desire afresh and anew the soul rest that can only come from genuinely walking in uninterrupted fellowship with Jesus.
Trust Jesus. Trust His yoke. Walk lighter. Be burden free. Prioritize the relationship.
Blessings,
Ken
