To Encourage You

Matthew 11:28-30 “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.”

How easily we can misinterpret the Scriptures if we fail to meditate deeply on them.  For example, to read the words of Jesus above, it would seem that He is, in effect, saying, “if you have a hard and difficult life, turn to me and all your troubles will be over.  It’s easy to follow me.  You won’t have to work so hard anymore.  My burden is light.” But is that really what He’s saying to us? If so, why then, in another place, does He say this: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14).  Doesn’t this seem to say the very opposite of His words in Matthew 11 which we find just four chapters later?  What in the world does this mean?  How is the yoke easy and the burden light for the Christian? 

Surely you know people who, in the name of Christ, have given their lives to relatively low-paying jobs in all manner of very difficult work among the most needy. I personally know of people who struggle daily to meet the needs of orphans in such places as Uganda and Romania, the children of incarcerated parents in Beaver Falls, the severely disabled in Erie County, and homeless teenagers living on the streets in Zambia. Surely this work is not easy, and surely these burdens are not light.  And think of those believers in such places as North Korea, China, and Eritrea who are suffering in prisons under conditions of hard labor and even torture. Surely their yoke is not easy either.  So, what is Jesus telling us? What could He possibly mean? 

For some insight into this, let’s look at the words of the apostle Paul. Here was one whose life before he became a Christian was in many ways much easier than it was afterwards. He was a respected leader of the Jews before he was saved. He was one who did everything in his power to make life hard for Christians.  But then, after he believed, his life was filled with one hardship after another.  He tells us that his life after he believed was characterized by “far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).  Surely, the yoke wasn’t easy for him, nor the burden light – or was it? 

You see, although Paul suffered as he did and worked as hard as he did, his motivation for it all had a very deep source.  He tells us “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, Who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory” (Ephesians 3:8-13). It is with these words that Paul helps us to see that although his yoke was anything but easy, physically speaking, and though the burden of his suffering was not light, physically, he was so overwhelmed by the privilege of serving the Lord that it, in a sense, was very easy for him.  He was overwhelmed with the reality that although he had been such an enemy of Jesus and His Church that God nevertheless chose to show mercy to him by forgiving his sin and turning him from darkness to light.  He could never get over the fact that such a sinner as he could be given the privilege of preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ. He was so filled with gratitude that serving Christ was not a burden for him, no matter how many challenges he faced. No, it was all a complete and utter joy. 

That’s the way it if for a true believer. That’s the sense in which the yoke, no matter how difficult, and the burden, no matter how heavy, is “easy and light,” The believer knows that although they deserved nothing but death and hell for their rebellion against God, they received the incredible mercy, grace, and love of God instead. 

You see, service to this infinite loving God is something the believer rejoices in.  He or she sees that service as something they “get to do,” as a great privilege, not something they “have to do,” as an obligation.  To the believer, prayer, the fellowship of the believers, Bible study, and Christian service is not drudgery, but joy.  It’s all an incredible privilege, for the true believer is eternally grateful “because God’s love has been poured into our hearts” (Romans 5:5). 

There is an Old Testament shadow that speaks to this same thought.  In Genesis 29 we have the account of Jacob as he had been sent by his father Isaac to his mother’s brother Laban to find a wife.  When Jacob saw Laban’s daughter Rachel, he fell in love with her.  He agreed to work for Laban for seven years in exchange for the hand of Rachel.  And then we are told “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her” (Genesis 29:20).  You see, to Jacob, the yoke of these seven years was easy and the burden light because of his great love for Rachel. 

So, is that how you view serving the Lord?  It is something you long to do?  Is it something for which you are eager, because you love Him and have a willing heart?  Or, is serving the Lord something you see as hard and a heavy burden that you find yourself entering into grudgingly.  Are you resistant to service and is giving to His work something you struggle with, whether it be of money or time?  Then perhaps it’s time to ask yourself if it’s some other yoke you are under, and some other burden you bear, something not of the Lord but of your own doing, or something other than the real thing. 

May God remind us of what He has done for us and fill us with the love and gratitude toward Him that will equip and enable us to, in “whatever (we do) (to) work heartily as for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23), no matter the yoke or burden He has asked us to bear.