Day 102 "If it's too heavy, is Jesus in it?"

Day 102

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all you 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."

Since we know God cannot lie, who is it then that is causing this life to feel so darn burdensome? Have you ever wondered about that or maybe asked a similar question yourself ? I know that I have, and yet when I do, the answer is as clear as the nose on my face: I'm the one who makes it hard, not Jesus. If God were as hard and demanding on us as we are of ourselves, we would surely buckle under the load, and there would be little appeal to following such a hard taskmaster. The good news is He is not as hard on us as we are on ourselves, at least not when it comes to expectations. Jesus says, "I am gentle and lowly in heart, you will find rest for your souls." So, why don't we? Again, he is not the one making it hard, we are. What does He say here? – "…rest for your souls." This is the rest that calms our fears, our failures, and relieves us of the weight of sin and transgression, and it is the rest of His righteousness.

Try as we might, we can never work our way into heaven anymore than we can make enough sacrifices upon this earth to make it to heaven–we get there one way–through Jesus! I, for one, need help in this area. While I know I can't do enough or give up enough, I feel compelled to do so on an ongoing basis. I know it has nothing to do with salvation and everything to do with obligation. You see, I feel obligated to do the things I do for God. For some reason, I feel He has forgiven so much that there is no way I can repay Him. Duh, He isn't asking for anything but my love. Does He require that I serve and make sacrifices in order to receive His love? The answer is, of course, no, at least not to the level that many of us do. The only things He requires of us are belief, submission, obedience, and repentance. Again, ‘His yoke is easy and His burden light.’ Are we wrong for doing so much or are we doing it because we love to? The answer is in the question. I believe that we must constantly evaluate the motivation for our actions of service and sacrifice. If we are feeling led to do something, then Jesus will give us peace and rest, and the burden will be light. If we are feeling weighed down, frustrated, and discontented, then we are truly no different than those who fast for all to see rather than those who fast and no one knows.

Daily Prayer: Father, I pray for wisdom and balance. Help me to stay wise in choosing when and where to serve, and may I never serve or make sacrifices with the wrong motivation or out of fear and obligation. In Jesus’ name I pray these things. Amen.

"If it's too heavy, is Jesus in it?"

Pastor Gene Burroughs