Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”— Matthew 11:28
I’m sure we all remember reciting this verse of scripture when we were in children’s church. However, we enjoy the juice in this verse when we read the next verse;
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. — Matthew 11:29
Why do the two verses end with finding rest? There must be something that links these two verses together, and this is what we want to explore, so we will merge these verses and read it as a whole.
Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, take my yoke upon you and learn of me and you will find rest for your souls because I will give you rest.
I find it so interesting that I can find rest in Christ. This isn’t just the rest you get on weekends; neither is it the rest you get when you take 6 hours of sleep. This is the rest that follows you throughout the week, all day long. It’s an unending reservoir of rest that we can always draw from.
Now you may ask, “How do I enjoy this rest?”
1. Come unto him.
Acknowledge that you have a weakness that God can help you with, then come humbly before him.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. — Hebrews 4:16
This is the first step to rest! You must come before the one who is able to help you.
2. Take his yoke upon you.
A yoke is a wooden beam sometimes used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs.
When two animals are yoked together, they must move in the same direction, and so by taking up the yoke of Christ, you are ready to submit to him and go where he leads. To yoke yourself to Christ is to assume a posture of willingness, surrender, and trust. It’s to say, “Lord, I identify with you, and I’m ready to obey all that you say.” To take the yoke of Christ is to be a disciple and be unashamed of the one you have identified with.
3. Learn of him.
Whooshhhhh!!!! I love this so so much. Learning and knowing Christ is one of the ways we maintain our balance in this world because it orders our steps into the fulfilment of purpose, and this, my friends, is true rest. Consider the word of God in 2 Corinthians 3:18;
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Let me explain what this means; the more we learn of Christ, the more we look like Him, and the better we can reflect Him to our world so that when people see us, it becomes easy for them to follow Christ because they see Christ revealed in us. So just by learning and following Christ, we already fulfil his commandment.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. — Matthew 28: 19a
The knowledge of Christ is like cold water on a sunny day; it truly satisfies. This is what our soul longs for every day, so why don’t you feed it?
The sweetest part of all of this is found in verse 30;
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
No matter how burdened, confused, dejected, and weary you are, you can bear the yoke of Christ so that His rest, which we speak so highly about, is for everyone to enjoy. Hear what Peter said in 1 Peter 5:7;
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
He’s waiting for you to come because he cares so much about you. So, what is that matter that has made you burdened and heavy-laden? Is it your relationship with God, a persistent yet unpleasant family matter, your academics, your career, a friend that won’t respect your boundaries or a financial situation? Come unto the one that doesn’t discriminate the burden that you bear.
This is the summary of the whole matter — Our souls desire true rest, and only God can give it. All we need to do is come to Him, take up his yoke, remain surrendered and learn of him. The best news is this; He doesn’t discriminate against the burdens that we bear because He cares for us.
Eniola Akingbemila
@the_eniola_