When Jesus spoke these words that are recorded in the eleventh chapter of Matthew, I believe He knew that us frail humans would attempt to do life on our own Strength at times, that we would run to Him as our last resort, rather then Him be the first place we run in times of trouble. Just listen to what He says:

• To the one who is weary, He bids come

•To the one who is burdened, He bids come

He doesn’t say when you have it all together, you can come, or once you are perfect, you can come. No, He makes it very clear, “come unto Me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”

We sleep at night to rest our weary bodies, but that’s not the rest He is talking about here. He’s talking about a rest that only He can give, when we give Him everything, our burdens, our cares, and our mistakes. When we give everything to Him, He is then in control of it all and we can rest in Him, because He is now in control of it.

Just listen to what else He says in verses 29 and 30 of Matthew 11.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

He wants us to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him, and how can we do that? It’s only when we come to Him with our everything that we can learn from Him, because if we don’t come to Him, our focus tends to be more on the problems and burdens we are currently dealing with.

He speaks of Him being gentle and lowly, which describes our Father so well. He is the creator of the Universe, yet He wants to have an intimate relationship with me. He is also the Gentle Shepherd who desires to heal all the broken pieces and wants me to live with complete abandon for Him.

The yoke He speaks of is another loving attribute of the Father. He doesn’t want us to worry about or carry anything. He wants to do that for us. The question is, will I allow Him to do that?

My friend, if you find yourself burdened and overwhelmed, please run to the Father, He is waiting with open arms to carry everything for you.

Thankful for Him,

Vinny