LENT 2012--Matthew 11:28-30

“Resting in God’s Presence” 


I grew up having to do one of the most ridiculous chores ever. I had to manually pull weeds over 1 entire acre of property. If you don’t know how big an acre is, GOOGLE it! This task was tiring, burdensome, draining and felt like it zapped the life out of me as a young boy. I still remember the relief I had the day we altered our family property so the horses could craze where I used to have to pull weeds. The comment from my mom of “you don’t have worry anymore about the weeds anymore” was a statement  that brought me freedom & rest. 


This story for me is a life experience that echoes these words of Jesus. In Matthew 11:29 Jesus talks about the “yoke” which was a wooden frame joining two animals (usually oxen) for pulling heavy loads. This was also a metaphor for one person’s subjection to another, and a common metaphor in Judaism for the law. The Pharisaic interpretation of the law, with its extensive list of proscriptions, had become a crushing burden but was believed by the people to be of divine origin. Jesus’ yoke of discipleship, on the other hand, brings rest through simple commitment to him. 


When we spend time reading the Scriptures about the life & teachings of Jesus, when we spend time asking Jesus to give us freedom & hope in our lives & when we seek life with the desire for Jesus to direct it we are seeking to be relieved from the elements in our life that drain us. God came to his creation to bring peace & rest in a world that desires to drain us. It is so easy to get distracted with business & allow the feeling of overwhelmed, exhausted & burdened to creep it. We feel defeated, worthless & “not good enough”. The message of Jesus & is to rest.  Rest in his love, care & freedom from the guilt that sin brings and to step into the grace His life spreads to our souls.