Skip to main content

Get Some Rest

Matthew 11:28-30 "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 in light."

So tell me if this sounds like your life:
"Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there" (Isaiah 28:11)
Sounds like mine. Just keep going and doing and making everyone happy and spreading yourself too thin and pretty soon you are feeling like you can't put one foot in front of the other and the next thing you know you are weary and burdened. Yes, I know it is poor sentence structure, but don't you just get tired reading it like that! It's a "run on" sentence. Just like us it keeps going and going. One thing I am learning - I am not the Energizer Bunny.

In the scripture in Matthew, Jesus gives us the picture of a yoke. A yoke is a wooden harness that fit over the shoulders of two oxen so they could pull some sort of equipment or cart. Doesn't seem like the sort of thing someone who is tired would want to do. But Jesus asks us to come to Him. Who? The weary and burdened. And do what? Take his yoke and LEARN FROM HIM. Somewhere along the years in a Bible study, I was taught that this is a picture of a young oxen being taught to use the yoke. It is placed over his head and he walks in it, but the stronger, older oxen is actually carrying the weight of the burdern. The younger oxen is learning from him, but not really doing any of the pulling.

Jesus says He will give us rest. Oh, how wonderful that sounds! So, what do you need to rest from? Are you burdened over an illness? A loved one who is away from the Lord? Sin in your life? A schedule that has you doing and doing and accomplishing nothing for the Kingdom? Maybe you are just striving on your own to live the Christian life and the burden of your own legalism is weighing you down. Whatever it is, just reach over and lay it on Jesus shoulders. You will still have it around you, but He will carry the weight. He will teach you how to walk in it. Best of all - He will give you a rest from carrying all that burden around all by yourself. 

I love what Jesus says about Himself in these verses. He wants to help us and teach us and He is gentle and humble in heart. I picture a gentle, patient teacher helping a child through a difficult lesson - because in essence that is what he is doing.

Psalm 23:1-3 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul...."

We need to come to Him and let Him rest our souls. Restore our souls....

Mmmmmm...I'm feeling better already.

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 27, 2013 at 8:49 AM

    Oh I I love this! I am trying to finish up my blog. It is similar to your approach and I love it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leaving Your Nets

Matthew 4:20 "AT ONCE they left their nets and followed Him (Jesus)."  Matthew 4:20 records the response of Peter and Andrew to the call of Jesus to be his disciples. They literally walked off the job and into ministry. We have the advantage of viewing this story with hindsight and the scripture, but Peter and Andrew were in the moment... Jesus was a hometown boy, a carpenter. He hadn't really started his ministry, yet. Surely he had been preaching in the area and the disciples knew what kind of man he was. But still... Fishing was a major industry around the Sea of Galilee and most fisherman belonged to family owned business. Can you imagine old Zebedee's face when somebody walked in his "office" and told him Peter and Andrew had taken off with the new preacher? How do you go home and tell your wife that you walked off the job for a ministry with no pay? How do you feed your kids? Their security was gone. Their income was gone. Possibly a few r
15 comments
Read more

Love's Pure Light

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12 I have a confession.  I have been more than a little 'bah humbug' this year. I don't really know why. We are settled in our new house this year. Grandkids have come and gone and are still coming and going. It's been a beautiful, tropical Florida Christmas season. We did a great program at our church. And, yet, I'm just not feelin' it...  Until tonight. Tonight was our annual Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. It is undeniably one of my favorite services every year and is always packed. Tonight was no different.  During the weeks leading up to the holiday, our pastor has been preaching a series of sermons called "The Light of Christmas" from the first chapter of John. Our Christmas musical was also themed around the light. And tonight, I saw the light. Because I was singing with our Praise
9 comments
Read more

Inspired by Obedience

And He said to all, "If any would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:20 - 21 I have only known in my life one person that truly personified those verses. In 2009, one of our youngest, most energetic ministers was taken to the hospital emergency room with chest pain. He was healthy and athletic. He taught PE at our local high school. This trip to the hospital began a journey that would last the next three years and affect more lives than anyone could have ever anticipated. Mike Storter was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. Mike immediately began treatments for his disease and for a short period during these years was considered cancer-free. It was a
5 comments
Read more