Go to Jesus. Take Jesus’ Yoke. Learn From Jesus.

Feeling restless, weary, and heavy-hearted? Jesus says:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 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”. (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV).

The laboring and are heavy-laden are those who pointlessly strive to earn righteousness on their own. It is easy to identify how unbelievers do this but does this striving really cease once we are saved? As Christians, there are many ways in which we labor and strive to prove ourselves to God and others. This is the source of much of our weariness.

We bear so much on our shoulders. Things we were never intended to carry. We strive for God and others’ approval, relying on limited, finite and perishable things such as intelligence, money, beauty, biblical literacy, eloquence. We act as if God’s Love for us and our right standing with him was conditional upon our performance. Jesus promises laboring souls like us: ‘I will give you rest …you will find rest for your souls’. He only asks us: (1) ‘Come to me’, (2) ‘take my yoke upon you’, and (3) ‘learn from me’.

1. Go to Jesus

The first and most important step to finding rest for our soul is to go to Jesus. Going to Jesus means intentionally taking steps to see and hear from him. This will happen primarily through his Word and prayer. It means running to him with our heavy, discouraged, and tired hearts. I am grateful for the plenitude of prayers of Lament in the bible. They show us that in our greatest despair, we can go to God with questions, tears and complaints. Doing so is an act of faith. It shows that we know Jesus is the only one who can deliver and give us rest. 

2. Take Jesus’ Yoke

Taking Jesus’ yoke upon us means denying ourselves, taking our cross, and following Him (Matthew 16:24; Matthew 10:34-39; Luke 14:25-33). It means to look to Jesus as our Chief Love, submitting to his authority and kingship in all areas of our lives. Why would Jesus call it easy and light then? Jesus’ yoke is light and easy because he himself supplies all that we need through his Holy Spirit in us. And his yoke leads to abundant life and peace.

3. Learn From Jesus

Going to Jesus in faith, laying our burdens at his feet and resolving to submit to his Lordship, are the prerequisites to finding true rest. Jesus is our rest from God. We cannot find true rest, soul rest, if we don’t go to him and submit to him. Jesus teaches us how to find rest in him, how to cease all our strivings and to truly rest in the Salvation that only him provides. And as he leads us in the path of life, we become more like him. Through joys and sorrows, he prunes and grows in us the fruit of love, peace, and joy. There lies true rest.