“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, NIV.
Dear God, please open our eyes that we may see all that You have for us in this promise. Amen
What a wonderful promise! For the next two days we will be gleaming all that we can from this gem. Today we will listen to what the text is saying to our hearts. Tomorrow we will see what relevance it had for people of first-century Palestine; and what application(s) it could have for our society in the twenty-first century. May our ears and hearts be opened to the voice of the Holy Spirit!
“Come unto Me, … and I will give you rest.” Obviously, rest is not the result of inactivity. Rest is found in Someone, in Jesus! Are you weary from trying to save yourself? Come to Jesus! Are you burdened with a load of guilt? Cast it upon Jesus! Does remembering your past deprive you of sleep? Give it to Jesus! Are you laboring in vain trying to please everyone? Surrender to Jesus! Rest, true rest, is found in Him!
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me[.]” How can an instrument of labor become a symbol of rest? One definition of yoke is: “a bond or tie that keeps people together.” The yoke spoken of here is symbolic of obedience and submission. True rest comes from learning of, and living within, the will of God.
“… I am gentle and humble in heart.” “The Lion of the tribe of Judah” became the gentle Lamb of God to take away “the sins of the world.” The Prince of heaven humbled Himself and “became obedient unto death.” When we take His yoke upon us we are “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” The mind that was in Christ is now in us. We discover, to our delight, that the things we would once have died for, we can now live without!
“[A]nd you will find rest for your souls.” Soul rest! That is the rest that our society, and the world at large is longing for. It is a rest that comes from within and is not disturbed by what goes on on the outside. Getting passed over for a promotion does not bring our world to a screeching halt. Life goes on! It is a rest that calms the soul in the midst of life’s storms.
“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Of course His yoke becomes easy when we know Him, and love Him! When we learn of Him, to obey Him is not a burden, it becomes a delight. The apostle John exclaimed, “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”
Have the burdens of life made you weary? Do you feel as if you are carrying a load that is too heavy? Take Christ’s yoke and learn of Him, and find the promised rest!
I invite you to go with me to our temple at the Prayer Request link. Let us pray together; and feel free to leave your burden there.
Thanks for initiating this website! It is certainly a “God-thing”! May He bless you abundantly as you share out of His Word and your own experience. It has already been a blessing to me and I know it will minister to many who will find it contains just what they need for the day. God bless.