Mat 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Our world, as it is today, is faced with several challenges, problems and conflicts that makes the heart of men fail them. A look at the state of affairs of the economies of several countries and the constant threat to the peaceful co-existence of individuals in a nation does not help matters. From the constant beheadings that are so graphic by various terrorist groups, to suicide bombings in various countries by a religion, who by name claims to be peaceful, but has raised so many who have no regard for human life.
In the Light of these sad state of affairs, I would like to share with you the words of Jesus in the Scripture above.
Come to Jesus.
It begins by encouraging us to come to Him. Come with your burden of sin. Most would run away from a man that has been labouring and has a heavy burden but Jesus asks us to come with our burdens to Him. You are not too filthy for Him, nor your burdens too great for him. He offers you peace if you would but come. Friend, I don't know what you have been labouring with and the burden or yoke that has been placed on your life. Jesus promises you rest! This rest is however dependent on whether you would agree to come to Him in the place of prayer, repentance and absolute surrender to Him. You have been doing things your own way and yet you have never found rest, Why don't you surrender to Him and let Him give you the rest, He promises.
If you are already a believer in Christ Jesus and you have known the rest that he gives from sin already, then this next section refers to you.
As believers we have come to accept a gospel that states that we have no responsibilities and that Jesus did it all,(In a sense this is true. As we obtain forgiveness of our sins based on the price he paid and not based on our righteousness).
However, verse 29 of the scripture above, makes us to understand that when he delivers us from the yoke of the devil and of sin, He(Jesus) has a yoke that we should willingly take upon ourselves, learn of Him if we are to find rest for our souls.
Notice that in the scripture above there are two "rests" being stated here.
One rest is the rest that comes from being made right with God while the second rest comes when we have decided to live our lives for the One that gave His life for us.
Many Christians go about rejoicing(as they should) that they have been delivered from the yoke of sin and hell but never submit their lives to take up His yoke.
Have you met people who have given their lives to Jesus but still live the way they want to? Their relationship with Christ does not affect their conduct, behaviour, friends or any aspect of their lifestyle. A constant conflict rages with regards to who they profess they are and the identity of who they truly are. They are Christians in title but not in lifestyle. Are you such a person?
This mixed lifestyle has opened them up to a plane of existence where Satan can still harass and oppress them because they do not see the need to submit to the yoke of their new |Lord and Master. Where they stand is easily accessible to the enemy of their soul and hence they have no peace.
To these Jesus says: Take My Yoke and My Burden. In case you did not know, Jesus has a Yoke,a burden that is light compared to what we bore before,but nevertheless a Yoke. A yoke may not convenient at first but if you do yield your life to live only for Him, you will find it easy and have rest for your soul. Learn of Him and stop living for your pleasure, passions and desires. He gave up true comfort to die for you, would you do the same for him? What has your Christianity cost you?
There is a Yoke that brings peace and only if we yield our lives to Jesus totally in words and in our deeds can we share in this experience.
Many acknowledge Him as a Saviour but few know Him as Lord. You must know Him as both.
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