Matthew 11: 28-30. “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

The Bible in Basic English words the text this way; “Come to me, all you who are troubled and weighted down with care, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and become like me, for I am gentle and without pride, and you will have rest for your souls; For my yoke is good, and the weight I take up is not hard.”

For years those texts seemed kind of vague. How do you take a yoke and how do you take it from someone you can’t see? Whenever I heard these texts, the focus was on coming to God, He will give you rest, and taking His yoke because it’s suppose to be easy. The key to these texts is the part that says, “and learn of Me”

Most of us are struggling hard to be noticed, to make a name for ourselves, and to always be watching out for ourselves so others don’t take advantage of us. We make sure that they will treat us as we think they should. What God wants is for us to become submissive to Him and to learn His ways.

To be like Christ is to be a servant to others. Christ lived a humble life, depending fully on His Father. While others treated him poorly he still gave his time and energy serving the people who came to him.

This is the way I see it. God is inviting us to come to Him, to get to know Him and to learn to be like Him. Instead of making sure we have the best, and are treated the best, we will look beyond ourselves. Our life will be one of humility and servitude. We have nothing to lose. No social status or image to protect. Therefore, our burdens are much less. Less stress, less exhaustion.

Let it all go and serve others where you are able to. Give yourself over to God and learn His ways. It’s so much easier and you’ll sleep so much better.