LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all you 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.”  Jesus

 

In the verses just before this, Jesus said He alone knew the God the Father and He alone could reveal Him to anyone He chooses. Now He is telling His listeners that if they are tired and struggling in their live they can come to Him and He can give them rest. What an invitation it is to “Come” to Jesus! The people Jesus was talking to were under enormous difficulties to really know God; the Jewish leaders placed burdens on them to live in a way that God would accept them. Jesus said to the Jewish people that He alone can reveal the Father to them in a way they would find immediate rest.

 

This speaks to all of us today who are oppressed by overwork, monotony of their life, the burden of responsibility, tension and the lack of ability to forgive and move on in their life. The heavy laden are those who must endure something put on them by someone else or an outside source (David Jeremiah), sometimes causing burnout. The rest, Jesus gives to those He saves and changes, is not physical rest but rest as the result of His presence in their life. It is a renewal and refreshing of the way they view life. It is the knowledge that we no longer must carry the burden of sins because He has forgiven them, taking the penalty of those sins upon Himself at Calvary. The wonderful promise is Jesus is offering to carry burdens for them in order to lead those who come to Him to the Father; Believers are in a sense “yoked” with Jesus.

 

The yoke in Jesus’ day was a wooden item that was used to harness the working animal (usually oxen) to a plow, for instance. It could be used by one, or two could be yoked together for more power. The Jewish people used the term to describe their lifestyle under the Law and all the additional manmade requirements they had to fulfill as Jewish people. Verse 29 tells the people the benefits they will receive when they place His yoke on them. Another way to put this is by taking the yoke of Jesus, a person allows Jesus to direct their lives instead of all the rules and regulations the Jewish leaders have made to direct them. The work that He has will not be difficult. He wanted the people to learn from Him; He is gentle. Philippians 2:5-7 speaks to this, “Your attitude should be the same that Christ had. Though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form” (New living Translation). Jesus did not come to add to their burdens but to give them rest. Jesus was offering them an easier way to get into eternal life in heaven – Himself.

 

To find rest for their souls, Jesus asks that the people make a commitment to Him. He tells us today the same thing. He invites us to “Come” to Him, take His yoke and look to Him for Him to be with us through every circumstance in life. It is then that we can be free from the day-to-day problems that are so heavy upon us. The invitation is for all who “labor” and “are heavy laden” with the trials/tribulations of life and sins of human nature. With Jesus with us as we walk the narrow way, serving Him, and obeying His direction, He gives rest and peace through difficult times.

Will you take some time with me to consider burdens you carry that you need to give to the only One that can lift them from your shoulders. There is no need to carry them any longer when you have a wonderful Savior and Lord who desires to give you rest from them.