The Christian Rest

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28–30)

Most of us carry a lot of excess baggage. Did you ever stop and contemplate the things that you really don’t need? Most people worry and fret over things that, in the big scheme of life, they really don’t need. Life has a way of overwhelming us if we are not careful.

Jesus understood the need for rest. His disciples had gone several days without rest and Jesus told them, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as to eat. (Mark 6:31) Life had overwhelmed his disciples.

To those who are overwhelmed, Jesus extends his hand and heart to you. If you will give him a place in your heart, you will find that his word is true. To yoke up with Jesus is to partner with him. One of the first things he will help you with is arranging your priorities in their right order. With Jesus’ help, you’ll begin to understand what is really important and what’s not. You’ll soon begin to discard those things that aren’t important.

Jesus didn’t promise the cares of life would disappear altogether. What he did promise was that the load would be lighter because you would be yoked with him and as a team working together, your burden would be light. He will give you rest. You have been carrying your burdens all by yourself and you need some help.

Isn’t it strange, that many people try to lighten their burden by taking on additional burdens? We let ourselves be convinced that a new car, new clothes, new job, new house or even a new husband or wife is just what we need to make some of life’s problems go away. We can soon be entangled in a web from which there seems to be no escape.

Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.” He invites us to try him and prove him and see that he is as good as his word. People need to learn that Jesus can be a far greater help that they think. “I am meek and lowly in heart,” he said. Meekness would be the opposite of pride. Pride is an overrated assessment of one’s self. You can’t live life all alone. We all need some help at some point. Jesus can help you and he wants to. Why not give him the chance?