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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.” Matthew 11: 28-30

Often, during my work day as a hospice chaplain, I find myself sharing one particular passage from the Bible with patients and their families. I keep it bookmarked, although I could probably recite from memory the familiar words offered by Jesus in chapter 11 of Matthew’s gospel. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The most profound and yet most straightforward invitation offered in the history of the world. No strings attached, no hidden fees and no service charges. The invitation is love at it’s most basic: come rest from your anxieties and give your worries over to Jesus, the Son of God and He will bear them for you without complaint or condition. On many days, when I’m several cups of Punk Bunny coffee deep and have driven hundreds of miles, sharing these life-changing words of Christ is as much a comfort to me as it is to the listener (maybe more).

Yokes? Burdens? What’s that all about? Reading the verses in the context of the place and time Jesus existed in, He’d just lamented the fact that in the cities he’d performed miracles and signs of wonder, His message was largely ignored. Arrogance, legalism, fear. These were all causes of the rejection of Jesus wherever He preached. Yet, there were those who came forward and humbly turned their lives toward repentance from sin and the misery of living aimlessly. He referred to these people as being like “little children,” not because they acted immaturely or foolishly, but because they sought to learn of the salvation He offered. A yoke, in it’s most common definition, is a means of harnessing plow animals together to keep them treading in the same direction. This is traditionally a heavy wooden device placed over the necks of cattle. Granted, you could look at this definition as a head scratcher, because it’s fairly certain that you don’t have wearying, heavy harness weighing you down as you try to walk through each day. Or, do you?

Consider this: from the time you wake each day to a time (possibly) long after you’ve attempted to go to sleep, you wear a yoke that grows heavier as the day progresses. Financial concerns, anxiety over the state of the nation and the world, the uneasy task of raising good children and grandchildren in a corrupt world. All of these things, along with dozens more, may be the weights that you dutifully carry each day. Now, think about Jesus’ invitation in this Bible passage: come toward his welcoming arms and his gentle voice, tell him all that weighs you down (the definition of a burden) and allow Him to carry that great anxiety for you. He’s not going to spike your burdens and run away, nor is He going to place more burdens on your shoulders. He who died willingly on the cross at Calvary so you wouldn’t have to face eternity outside of God’s presence loves you enough to carry you and your needs.

Okay, I fibbed just slightly at the beginning of this note. There is one thing you need to do and that Jesus encourages: accept His invitation to carry the weight of life for you. This is not the “coming at” someone we’ve gotten so used to in an adversarial time, though part of bringing your burdens to Jesus is being able to grieve openly to Him. It’s not a 40 step, seven-minutes-a-day, rule bound litany of “have-to-do” items. No, accepting Jesus and wanting to walk beside Him and find peace from the burdens of life is simply admitting that whatever you’ve done in the past to lose the weight of misery hasn’t worked and that you need His ever-present shoulders to carry that misery. It’s not easy to do this. After all, the childlike behavior Jesus talks about is a complete simplifying of life. Not childish, but seeing life with fresh eyes and a renewed heart.

If all of this talk of Jesus the Savior of the world and crosses is baffling, or bewildering, take heart. True repentance, heart change and faith in God are life-changing actions that those of who’ve experienced them can and should help you with. Reach out to me, or any of the Vandalia Church of God folks, and we’re happy to share the message of Jesus Christ so you find his comforting presence and allow yourself to give Him the yoke that has weighed you down.