Matthew 11:28-30 Free Ourselves
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Matthew 11:28-30 New International Version

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.”

This is an invitation to live free from the weight of the world and its demands.  Most of us are familiar with the term weary or burdened.  This is a moment in life when we have reached the end of ourselves.  We feel the heaviness of doing instead of being, and in bondage to what others will think of us. We mirror the ways of the world and every day becomes a struggle to live better than our yesterdays, but it only adds to the anxiety and stress.  

This invitation includes all who will surrender their weary souls to God. 

He welcomes us into His presence where our dark oppression is transferred to His shoulders and His light and easy yoke is transferred onto ours. His yoke is of peace and rest and it is easily worn and easy to carry. If  we remain in His rest we are lifted up.  Jesus speaks of His yoke and His burden as being easy and light.   In Him our shackles fall off and we are adorned in His righteousness.  

Jesus instructed us to love one another, to walk in peace, serve each other and to be a witness to all the world. This is something that when yoked together with Jesus, is possible to do. We just have to listen and wait for instruction.  Our rest is in not trying to figure things out.  David, knew this truth.  

Psalm 131:1 New King James Version

LORD, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.

We can learn from this King because David found his place of rest as he fellowshipped and learned to trust in God. 

The world's definition of burden is worrying responsibility, a duty, a load being carried, but God's definition is in trusting Him. Trusting God alleviates the pressure of worry and fear.  The burden God calls us to, carries upon it the privilege of praying for and walking with others, as He pours through us His love and encouragement to them.   

Our Lord is inviting us to come and receive His rest. He is asking us to take on life with renewed strength and renewed hope which can only come from His rest. He is asking us to be yoked with Him and to carry the burdens He has placed on us.  It is His desire that we walk in freedom and the only way to walk in this manner is in first knowing we need to take on the posture of dependency as we come to Him. 

Challenge: In the midst of your tears of despondency, cry out to God and trust in Him. 

God bless,  

Marni

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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.