My Yoke Is Easy, And My Burden Is Light

“Tell 'em to God. Don' go burdenin' other people with your sins. That ain't decent.”   -John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Most of us are aware that there are different kinds of loads, or "burdens" which we all carry about at one time or another. Some of these "burdens" shouldn't be carried by Christians, but sadly they are. Some examples of these are: worry, anxiety, doubt, fear, intimidation, hurts, among others.

The danger here is that "burdens" can become "strongholds" if allowed to remain and fester in our lives. The wonderful thing is that Our Lord has promised us that His "burden" will not "weigh us down", and that He will lift us up. As an added bonus, He will give us rest, peace, faith, confidence, love, joy and be with us always.

Matthew 11:28-30 is the Scripture that I will be referring to today. I mentioned something above that I think is key for our knowledge and spiritual growth. I said, "The wonderful thing, is that Our Lord has promised us that His "burden" will not "weigh us down", and that He will lift us up." Let's break this down a bit.

28“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. 30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Holman Standard Christian Bible)

The word "burdened," as used in Matthew 11:28, refers to being "weighted-down." You have been carrying this burden around for a while, and are simply exhausted by the weight of it. God is aware of this, and offers to "give you rest" if you would only ask.

"Burden" is again used in Matthew 11:30. Here, it's talking about a burden which must be carried by the individual, i.e. as something personal, and hence is not transferrable or, "it cannot "be shifted" to someone else."  In other words, I don't know what burdens you may be dealing with any more than you know mine. But, because they're personal I can't pass them off to you, and vice versa. This, of course, makes perfect sense if I was talking about you and I. Fortunately for us, this doesn't apply to God!

The word "yoke" is used in the same verse. A yoke is a wooden bar that is placed over the neck of a pair of animals, say oxen, for example, so they can pull, or work together. Here's the cool part! The way Jesus' uses yoke here is figuratively. He's talking about what unites, or joins two people to move, or work together as one!

Notice that Matthew 11:29 also contains the word yoke. Our Lord beckons us to,"take up my yoke." "Come on, hitch up to my yoke! You'll find that it is quite light. Let me help you with your heavy burdens. I'll even trade you my light load for your heavy one! No matter what, you don't have to suffer in silence. Learn from me. Learn from my gentle, and humbled-hearted example. I want so much to help you with your burdens!"

Clearly, God wants to help you with your heavy load so you don't have to carry it alone. His burden is light. Trust me. Trust Him. You have nothing to worry about. He can handle your load, His load,  and anything else you can throw on Him. For,"My yoke is easy and My burden is light." 

Dear friends, there are many who are going through life with some pretty heavy-duty loads. Nevertheless, we don't have to struggle, or press on alone. God offers to help lighten our heavy loads (burdens). He really wants to do this for us. Why? Because of his love for us! He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins. Talk about a heavy load! Yet, without asking He took on all of our sins, our ugliness, our worst, so that we wouldn't be burdened by them. Now, that's an offer too good to pass up!

Scripture: Psalm 55:22; Philippians 4:6; 1 Peter 3:18; Matthew 23:4; John 14:6

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for everything you do. As I face the day, give me the wisdom to know that I'll never fail as long as I try. Please give me the strength to keep trying. Amen

May God bless you!

Sarah