«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 is light.» (Mathew 11:28-30).
You have probably experienced the relief of taking off a heavy backpack, or of lying down to rest after a very busy day. This feeling of relief may be accompanied by a sigh or by a feeling of total relaxation. Try it right now. Try relaxing.
We should do this exercise several times a day. We often do not realize how tense we are until we let go of something or someone puts a hand on our shoulder. It seems that in the frenzy of this world we live in a constant state of alert, and we carry the heaviest burdens in our mind, so this relaxation exercise can be much more complex than we think.
But Jesus knows all about our situation today. He knew the circumstances of each person when He was on earth, too. They were struggling to pay their taxes to a government that extorted them; they struggled to comply with all the religious requirements; they struggled with the internal noise that is produced when there are incongruities within our leadership, or when we know that certain things are right but we don’t do them. They also had their burdens, and Jesus wanted to give them relief. In His invitation Jesus gives three orders: 1) Come, 2) Take my yoke, 3) Learn. The first order is to simply come to Him, and He promises, «I will give you rest.» For the second and third orders, which imply something that we need to do, He gives the same promise: «You will find rest.»
When we are entirely wrapped up in ourselves, we become restless. But it is not worldly activity or our own actions that will give us relief. The yoke that Jesus offers us is one of trusting Him, of service, of salvation, to become humble and to sit at His feet to learn. The more we receive of the Holy Spirit, the lighter our burdens will be and the greater will be the fruit of our efforts.
“When our will is swallowed up in the will of God, and we use His gifts to bless others, we shall find life’s burden. He who walks in the way of God’s commandments is walking in company with Christ, and in His love the heart is at rest” (The Desire of Ages, ch. 34, p. 331)
Do you feel weary? Come to Him; the yoke he offers you is easy and light.
