“28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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.30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
There is much that we can learn from this passage. The lives of most sincere followers of Christ are filled with burdens of every kind. There are the normal burdens of everyday life; such as jobs, finances, family, health and so forth. Then there are the burdens that are specific to all believers in Christ. These include doubts, doctrinal beliefs, ministerial misgivings, personal ministry fears, and the list goes on and on.
In Matthew 8, Jesus and the disciples are in a boat when a storm comes upon them. Jesus is sleeping soundly but the disciples are fearful and begin to panic. They awaken Jesus and express their fears “23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” (Matthew 8:23-25) I hope you see the stark difference between the panicked actions of the disciples and the calm demeanor of Jesus.
It is a normal human reaction to be fearful or panic in a stressful situation; yet Jesus remained calm. He admonished the disciples because of their lack of faith and then demonstrated his authority over all things by calming the waters; “26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. (Matthew 8:26) Jesus used this stressful situation as a teaching moment for the disciples. They learned more about Jesus and what it means to have “total faith” in Him “27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:27)
Jesus does not demand anything from us but our trust and faith in Him. It is that alone which cause so much stress in the lives of many Christians. As stated earlier, life is full of all kinds of stressors. We live in a time where the frenetic is normal. Everything moves at a fast pace. We hear of earthshaking events in moments rather than days. We now worry about world events instead of just local ones. This fast paced lifestyle brings with it many problems in many areas. Family life is fragmented with kids going in their own direction and parents going in theirs. We have become adept at overcoming life’s problems in the long term; but in the process we have become tired, weary and worn out. It is no surprise that so many people die of stress related issues at a young age.
When we add the burdens of our Christian lives into the turmoil of our daily lives; it is easy to see why so many Christians have doubts and fears and the work of the church suffers. These are stressors that we place upon ourselves. We have become so adept at multi-tasking that we assume the same efforts that we use in dealing with life problems will work in our Christian walk as well. When those efforts fail to produce the desired results, we become discouraged and many of us quit all together.
There is another burden that Christians will have. That is the burden that the Lord places upon us. I am not talking about the daily walk that is filled with doubts, concerns and fears. I am talking about the special burden that the Lord gives to each of us; individually. It is these burdens that weigh us down so much. We wonder if we are able to “do” what the Lord is asking us. We recognize the burden as being from God and we fear that we will not be successful in its completion. Because of this, we make extra efforts to insure success. We want to see it through to completion.
In our passage, Jesus tells us to bring our burdens to Him. He wants all of our burdens, including the ones that He has placed upon us. That’s right; He wants us to “give back” the burden that He has given us. Look again at the passage: “28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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.30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus is saying that He wants to carry the load for us. Just as He was able to sleep (remain calm) in the stress of the storm; He will remain calm and not fail in helping us to carry our load.
Jesus does not give us “man sized” tasks. He only has “God sized” tasks to give to us. He wants us to rely on Him, to trust in Him, to put our full faith in Him! So when He burdens us with a personal ministry, whether it be a prayer burden, a mission, evangelizing, or any other type; He knows that we will not be able to do it without His help. He tells us Matthew 11:30 “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The yoke refers to the beam that ties two oxen together so that they can pull as a team. They are paired together and are virtually inseparable. The younger, inexperienced ox paired with an older, more experienced ox. The young ox learns to do as the older one does. It learns to go where the older one goes and to pull the load equally. This takes time because in the beginning, the young ox is just plodding along and allowing the older one to do all the pulling. It learns over time to pull along with the older ox.
Jesus wants to “pull” our load for us. He is stronger and more able to overcome our burdens than we are. Jesus alone is responsible for the success or failure of any burden or trial that He places upon us. We cannot assume that our efforts will match His. We need not worry as to whether we will be successful, or able, or even capable to do God’s will. Jesus is telling us to “Lay our burdens down!” and let him carry them instead.
Paul exhorts us to “4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
Let us Lay our burdens at the feet of Jesus and submerse ourselves in the peace of God!
In Christ,
John
DOES WHAT A MAN THINKS AFFECT HIS SALVATION? BY STEVE FINNELL
ReplyDeleteDoes what a man thinks alter the fact of a man's salvation?
Can a man say that he believes that Jesus is the Son God and then say, however, I do not think that it is essential for my salvation? Can that kind of thinking save anyone? (John 8:24 'Therefore I say to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.")
Is it possible for someone to assert they they were baptized in water and say, however, I do not think it was not essential for me to be saved? Can that kind of thinking save anyone? (Mark 16:16 He who has believed and been baptized shall be saved...)
Is is plausible that a person can profess that they believe the God raised Jesus from the grave and then say, however, I do not think it is essential to believe that, in order to be saved? Can that kind of thinking save you? (Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.)
DOES WHAT A MAN THINKS ABOUT GOD'S TERMS FOR PARDON AFFECT HIS SALVATION?
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