Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Matthew 11:28
Come to Jesus
Jesus invites all who would believe in Him to put their trust in Him. He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened.” The first thing Jesus wants us to do with our burdens in life is to come to Him. Bring it all to Jesus and lay it upon His shoulders. If we don’t come to Jesus and cast our burdens on Him, we’ll spend much of our lives carrying around a load we’re not meant to carry.
Giving You Rest
When you come to Jesus, you cannot rest until you first cast every burden, every weight, and all those things in life that weigh you down and place them in His strong hands. There is no way to rest until you put all the toils and troubles on His shoulders. Only when you unload every burden on Jesus can you finally find the rest that Jesus promises, as He says, “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” (Matthew 11:29).
The Easy Yoke
A yoke is a device where the weight of both oxen is spread out evenly. One ox could not carry as much of a load as two; and when they shared the load, it was only half as hard to pull. Jesus’ point is that His “yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). If we try to carry it ourselves (as I have), the yoke is hard and heavy and the burden’s too much for us.
Conclusion
Jesus’ advice some 2,000 years ago was just as relevant then as it is today. We must first come to Jesus or we can’t unload our burdens. Then we must give Jesus ownership of our burdens so He can handle them. Only then will we find rest because Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light, if only we’ll hand it over to Him.
