Rest for the Weary

Matthew 11:29 says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” I like how both the MSG and TPT translations read also. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (MSG).  “Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me” (TPT).  Verse 30 says, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Let’s do a little word study on these two verses:
“Yoke” means, “to join or to couple.”
“Learn” means, “to learn by use or practice, to be in the habit of, accustomed to.”
“Burden” means, “load, obligation, invoice”
“Light” means, “light in weight, quick, agile.”
 
What Jesus Christ is telling us is that joining Him is a whole lot less obligatory than we think. Religion puts a heavy yoke of bondage on us, but relationship (knowing the Father’s heart) allows us to see God for who He really is through His Son, Jesus. And when we’re joined to Him, He takes away the load or an invoice-filled life where we always feel like we must do so many things to earn the righteousness of God.

There is nothing we can do to earn His righteousness. We must receive His gift and allow the Holy Spirit to lead our lives daily. There’s nothing good in us unless God is in us. Only God is good.