“Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” (Psalm 55:22)
I recall a time when I was checking my luggage at an airport before going to the gate. As I placed my bag on the scale, the associate told me that it exceeded the weight limit by several pounds. I was also informed that if I decided to check the bag as it was, I would have to pay a fee. When I inquired what the fee would be, I was shocked at the amount. Not wishing to delay all those who were in line behind me, I asked if there were any other options. The attendant looked at me as if she wanted to say, “Duh…..” Then she stated the obvious: “Sir I suggest that you simply remove a few items from the bag you are checking and place them in your carry on.” I did so quickly, and I was “good to go.” I do remember thinking at the time that this was stupid, because I would be taking the same amount of weight on the plane. But I did not express my objection. If transferring some of the weight relieved the burden of the extra fee, then all parties would be satisfied.
It’s that time of year when we can feel overwhelmed as though we are personally carrying excess baggage. The beginning of the year presents us with new goals which we have set to challenge ourselves or, even worse, have been established for us by someone else. It’s a time when we realize that we have lived in excess over the holidays. Now we have the additional pounds to lose or the extra fees to pay on our credit cards. Or maybe both. Routine obligations which have been postponed because of the season are now back on our schedule. In addition, we may have been with family or friends we haven’t seen in a while. This often reignites old arguments or perhaps connects us with extra responsibilities or concerns. These burdens present themselves in the dullest of the seasons when the weather is gloomy and summer vacation seems a long way off. So we take a deep sigh, and like I did with my overloaded luggage – we take a quick assessment of just what our options might be to relieve some of the burdens at hand.
Enter Jesus, saying: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Here, Jesus drew a distinct contrast between the Pharisees and Himself. In His time, these religious leaders had established lists of spiritual duties to keep the Jewish people from breaking God’s laws. The lists were long and burdensome, often too extensive to be kept even by the religious leaders themselves. Jesus uses the symbol of a yoke to demonstrate how he will help us carry our burdens. In Jesus day and for centuries thereafter, a wooden yoke would often be utilized to join two animals together. The result was that their combined strength could pull a load that would have been difficult for one animal to move alone. Unlike the requirements imposed by the Pharisees Jesus states that His burden on us is light. He asks us simply to believe and trust in Him. He carries the burden that we were meant to carry all the way to the cross where His perfect obedience and righteousness are exchanged for our sin.
The Apostle Paul explained it this way: “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus never promised that He would remove all the difficulties of our lives. But He did promise that if we followed Him, He would provide the rest and forgiveness we need to face our life’s challenges. In that way, we do not bear our burdens alone. As with my luggage, the weight is still there but the load has been shifted. So as the song says, just “Give Them All to Jesus” – your “shattered dreams, wounded hearts, broken toys” (Phil Johnson and Bob Benson). When we become yoked with Jesus, the excess baggage we have been trying to carry alone will become oh so much lighter.
REFLECTION: What are the burdens you are facing or have been trying to carry for a long time? How might you begin to partner with Jesus to lessen your load? If you know someone who seems to be carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, would you be able to use Jesus’ example of the yoke as a demonstration of His love for each of us?
A NEW LOOKUP DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., JANUARY 21, 2017. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.