Rest from Weariness

Author: Joseph

Date: June 28, 2020

What is your daily life like? How do you feel at the end of the day when your work is finished and you look back on what happened? Most of us feel tired, whether mentally or physically. Sometimes you end the day and you are satisfied with what you’ve experienced or what you’ve accomplished, while other days leave you in sadness, regret, and perhaps even anxiety for what’s coming the next day. No matter what your experience is, the truth is you have little control over what your days will bring or what will happen to you. Although you may try to set goals or make a routine, you often fall short, disappointed. Or just when you thought that the day was going well – and sometimes it does end well – it’s followed by a difficult or unexpected event that seems to erase the joy you’ve had before.

We live in a broken world and a world torn apart by sin. The truth is, life will never be easy because sin is ever present and affects our lives every day, whether directly or indirectly. The consequences of sin in the world bear down on us, causing us to feel discouraged, depressed, anxious, fearful, and a multitude of other emotions that if it goes uninhibited, leads us to despair and to despise the life we live. This is often why people seek therapists and doctors in an attempt to deal with their emotional and spiritual turmoil. This is also why people commit suicide. They attempt to escape the sinful world that burdens them and oppresses them, from which there seems to be no escape. People are desperate to escape from the guilt and the overwhelming burden that sin places on them. When they look for answers, the rest of the world gives them the same old answers: they need to organize a routine, they need to keep busy, they need to go on a diet, join a club, indulge in drugs and alcohol, among many other things. The truth couldn’t be any further from the “wisdom” of the world. What people need and what people are really longing for is God’s salvation through Yeshua. Only He can take away the burden and pain of living in a world corrupted of sin.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28)

Yeshua spoke these words to the crowds that were listening to Him preach. These words are also meant for everyone today. God knows how chaotic the world has become because of sin and He has given us the solution, the salvation in Yeshua. His words continue: “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. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).

The “yoke” Yeshua is referring to is a term that His listeners would have been familiar with. A yoke was usually a length of wood, shaped and formed to be placed above the shoulders, around the neck of two oxen as they tread through the fields so that as they moved and pulled along a tool or a load, they would move in unison. The yoke was a way for the tool or load to be pulled by both oxen so that they could coordinate their movements and at the same time share the weight of the work.

So, when Yeshua said that He wanted people to take His yoke upon them and learn from Him, He was saying that He would come alongside them and guide them. He is God in the flesh; He knows exactly what we need and the way that we should live out our lives. Yeshua was also saying that, unlike the world with its competition and aggressive demands, His personality is gentle and humble. He would instruct us in gentleness and in a way that encourages us and enables us because of His humility. Imagine, literally, if you wore a yoke and walked alongside Yeshua. He wouldn’t yank you or run ahead and start dragging you through the fields. He would gently walk alongside you and instruct you in the manner that you should walk as you are with Him. The experience would be that of rest.

He says, “you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). We are no longer walking through life and carrying burdens alone when we take Yeshua’s yoke upon us. When we take His yoke and learn from Him, our burdens become easy to bear and we are able to find peace in Him as He walks alongside us. When we are obedient to His teachings and learn from Him, we are able to work cooperatively with Him, in His will. We must obey Him, because if we don’t, we will bring affliction upon ourselves. It would be like us trying to yank our necks away from the yoke upon our shoulders. We would find ourselves injured or even choked by our own rebellion against His will which would otherwise be gentle and restful. Rest comes not only from taking His yoke upon us, but by also learning from Him and accepting His instruction and discipline.

Lastly, Yeshua says, “For my yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Yeshua carries the burdens of life in this world with us and teaches us the best way to live. He also promises that by taking on His yoke, we will find that it is light compared to that which we would find anywhere else. The sinful world seeks to overwhelm us and cruelly enslave us to sin, placing heavy yokes upon us and forcefully pulling us against our will. Like a yoke made of iron or lead, the yoke of the world wears us out and eventually leads to our death. Contrarily, the yoke of Yeshua is easy. Taking on Yeshua’s yoke requires us to surrender our will to His and when we do the responsibility is taken off our shoulders to lead the way. His yoke is easy because we are no longer trying to control our lives or find our way through life alone. His burden is also light. Unlike the world, which continually adds burdens to us as we go throughout life, Yeshua’s only burden for us is our selfless submission to His will. It is light because, again, the responsibility is taken off of our shoulders and we therefore have no reason to be anxious or fear. God is in complete control of our lives when we submit to Him and just knowing this is comforting and reassuring.

"...Yeshua’s only burden for us is our selfless submission to His will."

What was your day like today? Would it have been easier if you took Yeshua’s yoke upon you and let Him walk alongside you? At the end of a difficult or trying day, when we have taken Yeshua’s yoke upon us, we can still be at rest knowing He is in control. We need not be anxious or distressed, knowing He is beside us, bearing the burden with us, guiding us and teaching us the way we should live out our days.

Matthew 11:28-30

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB). Copyright by The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org).