Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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 11:28-30

All of us become weary and all of us have burdens. Those burdens can be public or private but they exist and they are real. Weariness comes when the burdens are hard and we have been trying to deal with them on our own and in our own strength. The burdens feel like rocks in our backpack and weariness is the result of carrying them around.

That weariness is real. A Harvard professor wrote a book called “The Body Keeps the Score.” It shows from a physiological point of view how we carry our anxieties, fears and worries in different places in our bodies. For me it is my upper back. When the burdens are heavy my muscles in my back are tense and hard. Some carry it in their chest or stomach. Weariness keeps us up at night when we want to sleep, robs us of our peace, creates tension in our bodies and shortness and irritation with those around us. It is a human condition.

But we don’t have to live with our burdens or weariness. Jesus invites the weary and burdened to come to Him and says “I will give you rest.” Are you in need of rest? Are you tired from the burdens you carry? Jesus makes a simple promise: I will give you rest!

But for this to happen we need to take His yoke on us and learn from Him. A yoke is that wooden piece that fits over oxen when they plough the fields as they did in Jesus day. You might say, why would I put a yoke on? The answer is simple: We all wear yokes. The issue is which one you wear. Many of us wear a yoke we have made as we try to negotiate life on our own.

Some of us wear the yoke of others who have a plan for our lives. Some of us wear a yoke of addiction as we try to medicate for inner pain. All of us wear a yoke.

Here is the thing about the yoke of Jesus. He says, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Why? Because He is “gentle and humble in heart.” Don’t you love people who are gentle and humble? You know those people have your best interests in mind and they will not hurt you. They are kind and loving. That is our God! This is what makes His yoke easy and His burden light. And because God’s ways are pure and right, they keep us from creating burdens of our own making. He is inviting us to exchange our yokes that are burdens and wearisome for his yoke which is easy and the burden light. As we do this we find rest for our souls.

Two things are required. That we come to Him and learn from Him. That is, we make a conscious choice to come to Him, learn from Him and align our lives with His. In doing so He will give us rest for our souls and minds. Our way and our yokes create weariness and burdens. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Which do you choose today?

Focus on learning from Him. Do it actively through a daily Scripture reading, prayer and learning from good teaching. Then apply that learning to your life. Head knowledge will not give you rest. Applying it because we have chosen the yoke of Jesus does. He will be gentle and humble as He guides you to rest in Him.

Father, I want to exchange my yoke for yours. I give my burdens and weariness to you today and I want to learn how to live in your presence and grace - letting you take those things that burden me. Teach me what it means to live like you and help me actively apply your teaching to my life. I thank you that you are gentle and humble of heart. I need that. I need you.

Amen.