"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE FOR THOSE WHO LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE FOR THOSE WHO LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN"

Matt 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matt 11:29 “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.

Matt 11:30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

1. This is as mentioned a very gracious command,  and personal invitation from Jesus. And, as you read the verses above, You can see that there are three basic parts to this command/invitation. Let's look at them one by one, and be encouraged.

(1) Come to me. This of course is not hard to understand, it's Jesus inviting people to come to Him. However, it's a command, that means, "Come now" Do it now, don't waste anytime, respond now, and come to Jesus.

(2) "All who labor and are heavy laden" The "all" here does not leave anyone out. If you fall into this category then this command/invitation is for you.

(3) Who is Jesus talking about when He uses these words "labor and heavy laden?" Whom do they describe?
Labor, means, "to grow weary" It's speaking to those who are not only weary, but to those who are oppressed, by routine, monotony, overwork, responsibility and tension.

(4) Heavy laden, on the other hand, means "to endure something that is laid on them from an outside source, and in today's language we would call it burnout"

2. Now, after the command/invitation, we see a promise, some instruction, and personal self description of Jesus, and an two-fold explanation of what His yoke is like.

(1) Jesus makes a promise to those who will come to Him. "I will give you rest" Or I will "rest your souls" That's of course exactly what a laboring, heavy laden, burned out person needs. Rest. It means, rejuvenation, to refresh, to take ease, to recover and collect one's strength, to refresh, to keep quiet, and of calm and patient expectation.

(2) Jesus now gives another command/instruction by saying "take My yoke upon you" To take a yoke, Jesus's yoke, speaks of coming under that person's leadership, and walking in that person's footsteps. In a very real sense, it's not any different from saying "Follow Me" Come to me, and follow Me" Allow Me to lead you, and come My way" Place yourself under my leadership, and let's move forward.

(3) He also says, to "learn of Me" To be taught by Him, to receive instruction from Him. Or as the NLT says, "let Me teach you"

So, we can see here, that in addition to the invitation, and promise once a person comes to comes to Jesus, there is this instruction as to what do once we come to Him.

To allow Him to lead, surrender yourself to Him. And, let the Lord teach you what He wants to teach You. All of these things by the way, are what bring about this rest in a person's soul. Submission to Jesus, and learning from Jesus.

(4) Jesus gives us some very detailed self description about Himself and His yoke. He says two things here. "I am gentle and lowly in heart" and "My yoke is easy an my burden is light. Or "I am humble and gentle, and My yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light. How delightfully encouraging are these words and description about Jesus. And, of course, they are all true.

3. In closing here, when believers take Jesus's yoke, they place themselves under His dominion. Only then do His followers enjoy the day to day release from stress that God intended. Are you as Jesus described, burned out?

Then come to Him, and surrender to Him afresh, let Him lead you, and study His Word, read it, and apply it, and you will find Him giving you the rest your soul desires.
Jesus is the great "soul rester" He is the "great teacher" He is the one with the light burden, and the easy yoke..

A prayer:

Father, thank You for teaching us what do to when we are in this condition. It's a condition that we often find ourselves in. And, thank You that You provide the way for us to deal with it. It's You Jesus. All that we need for life and Godliness are found in You.

And, You are so willing to take us and to teach us to affect our souls with rest and ease. You want us to come to You, or You would not have asked us to do so. You are truly great, wonderful, and worthy of all the praise and honor that we can give to You.
We love You Lord Jesus. Amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.