Rest for Your Souls

Mt. 11:29-30

Come to me, all 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.

Jesus invites all to come, all who labor and are heavy laden. In the context of the Sermon, it would seems that their laboring was in a religious setting. The people were under a heavy yoke of rules, regulations, and self-righteousness imposed on them by the Scribes and the Pharisees. There was nothing satisfying or God-glorifying in what they were doing. To make it worse, Jesus had clearly and emphatically stated that unless their righteousness exceeded that of the Scribes and Pharisees they would not enter the kingdom of God. Think how they felt! All that work for nothing! But what was Jesus offering these same people? He offered an invitation to come and receive rest, rest from religious activity and rest for their souls. He offers this same invitation today to all who labor and are heavy laden. Perhaps the labor today is not so religiously oriented, but people are running themselves ragged to keep up with the world's system of getting ahead and sucking all there is out of life. But the harder they suck, the more that they find that the end result is empty and unfulfilling. Fame, riches, possessions, and prestige all come out empty in the end. Why? Because they do nothing for the soul, that part of man that can only be satisfied in Jesus.

How do we learn from Jesus? How do we get satisfied in life? Jesus says by taking His yoke and dropping off the yoke of the world, sin, or even religion. Compared to the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus was gentle and lowly in heart. The Pharisees were known for their great spiritual pride, harshness, and self-righteousness. None of that would be found in Jesus. Jesus assured them and me today that His yoke is easy and His burden is light! How can that be? How can any yoke or burden be easy or light? It is because Jesus is yoked with us side be side. He is a faithful high priest who has experienced and endured what I have and has defeated the power of sin and death. His victory assures me of a victory as well. I no longer have to be enslaved to sin, this world's system, or an empty religious system. I can live in His new life flowing through me and energizing everything that I do. I can truly find rest for my soul with no stress or worry about today or my future. My sovereign God has ordained all my days, moment by moment. I can rest in His promise that what happens is for my good, and whatever He has planned for me, I know that He will be there walking through it with me. We are yoked together with a yoke that cannot be broken or taken off. I am His and He is mine!

Father,
Thank You for such a gift in the person of Your Son and for the rest that You so graciously give me. Thank You for His humble obedience that led to His death and resurrection and for my new life in Christ.
In Jesus name,
Amen