Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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
Everyone gets weary because of life’s day to day demands. So it’s not surprising we’re overwhelmed by life-threatening crises. So where do we turn? I’m glad Jesus meets us when we slide down to the end of our rope. He asks, “What took you so long? Let go of the rope and grab hold of My hand.” He offers serious relief in Matthew 11:28, and gives two directives which together lead to genuine rest.
1) Come to Him.
Sometimes we allow pain and exhaustion to turn us away from the Lord. We nurse a low-grade anger towards God. “I don’t remember signing up for this.” We’re afraid to question or vent at God, so we drift away, growing increasingly indifferent to Him. It’s never too late to turn back to Him. He always gladly receives us. Throw the weight of your burdens, fears and concerns on Him. Go to Him.
2) Take His yoke upon you.
A yoke is a leather and wood harness fastened to an oxen to pull a plow. When Jesus tells us to take His yoke upon us, He’s speaking of a double yoke. He teams up with us to tackle the day’s work. Older, stronger oxen are often partnered with clumsy, young ox and the older ox does the heavy lifting. He promises to make our lives “easy” and the pulling “light”. We were never designed to pull solo, especially in a crisis. So let Him lighten your load.
Sometimes independence is our greatest enemy. Perhaps we wish to take credit for going it alone. This is probably why He emphasizes meekness and humility in this passage. Meekness is towards man; not seeking to be someone special. Humility is towards God; not wanting to control our own lives, but yielding over to Him, Who knows much more than us. Many of our burdens are self-imposed. So rest in Him. We’re thinking about you!
