THE WORD 4 ev 1

Read Matthew 11 (click here for link)

"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.”

It is interesting that Jesus uses the word “yoke” and “burden” to describe what it means to be his disciple. These are words that are synonymous with slavery. Jesus wants us to be his servants or slaves. This means a change for you and me in our lifestyles. We are no longer free but burdened and yoked. Our purpose is another’s purpose.

Yet as undesirable as this might seem, our Lord invites us to “come” and replace our personal burdens with his burden. It is only when we leave our burdens behind and take up the yoke of Christ that we can find rest.

So, are you chaffing under the yoke? It is amazing how even when we think we are at our best in our living for Jesus, we suddenly find that we have cast off his yoke and are running as hard as we can toward our old burdens. We all have baggage and issues that follow us around in life. These issues can affect the way we work, mess with our relationships, and cause us more stress than is healthy. How often do you find yourself angry? But not angry at anyone in particular, just angry? What about stress? How often are you just simply stressed-out? Letting go of this baggage won’t be easy. We unfortunately wrap too much of our identity in such things. But if we ever hope to have rest, we must drop it all and come to Jesus. He will give us a new burden, a new identity.

If you ever find yourself angry at someone you love, but you know deep down it is not their fault, try this: Think of our Lord who said, “I am gentle and humble of heart.” Think of the psalm “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name sake.” It is that last part that is the hardest to swallow. To be in the throes of anger and broken by stress and to give it all up for the sake your new master will be the hardest thing in the world. But as soon as you do, you will find rest. The moment you set foot on that righteous path, the Lord is with you. The moment you seek forgiveness from your hurt spouse, the Lord is with you. He is bearing that burden with you. And on the other side is rest for your soul. His burden is light, because he is there with you. But it is a burden nonetheless. But then again, no wine has ever been made without first squeezing the grapes and no gold has ever existed that has not first been refined with fire.

Don’t turn to bear those old burdens alone. Let go. Stay with the Shepherd. Stay with the one who can give you rest.

Pastor Aaron