Sunday, August 19, 2012
“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.”
— Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV
Rhoda was a saintly lady we knew from Kentucky. She said that when she died she didn’t want to go straight to heaven, because she was tired, and she wanted to rest a while. These verses, however, do not refer to our “after death” experience. These are for NOW!
Read the words again. Slowly. They have the same affect on me as do the words from Psalm 23. Restful peace; serenity; calm.
Are the cares of the world getting heavy? Take them to Jesus.
Are you having difficulty getting past a particularly nasty hurt from the past? Take it to Jesus.
Do you find something in your present circumstances distasteful? Take it to Jesus.
There are two kinds of yokes. One is put across the shoulders and is used for carrying things. The other is most often pictured with a team of oxen. It is a shared load, with the two doing more that the sum of their parts. This is the yoke picture by Jesus. His yoke doesn’t chafe, nor is it too heavy. It fits just right, and the shared burden becomes easy to bear. With Jesus sharing our load, life becomes less cumbersome and more serene. We walk beside Jesus, with Him taking the bulk of the load until our strength is equal to the task. We learn from Him. And life’s burdens become light.
Jesus, we come to You today. We accept the yoke You offer, in order that we may learn from You. We pray in Your name. Amen.
Rev. David C. Collins, Re-tired