Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard. Obesity is hard. Being fit is hard.
Choose your hard. You get the idea. Life is hard; make good choices! Jesus asked some people to do hard things in the New Testament… accounts in all four gospels tell of calling the disciples to leave all behind and commit everything to Him (Matthew 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; Luke 5:2–11; John 1:40–42). He told the rich young ruler, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Mark 10:22). Could I do that? Would I? Would you?
He asks us to do hard things, yet Matthew 11 says:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.” (NASB)
AI Overview
No, the life of following Jesus is not easy in the sense of being without difficulty, as it can involve challenges, persecution, and overcoming self-centeredness. However, Matthew 11:29-30 says Jesus’s “yoke is easy and his burden is light” because the yoke represents finding rest and peace in Him rather than the heavy, oppressive burden of self-righteousness and legalism, especially in comparison to the rigid rules of the Pharisees at the time. The “easy” part comes from a life of faith lived in dependence on God, whose strength provides rest for the soul.
Yes!! Strong’s Concordance defines “heavy ladened” in the King James Version as “with the burdensome requirements of the Mosaic law and of tradition, and with the consciousness of sin.” “Yoke” is defined as “a. properly, such as is put on draught-cattle.b. metaphorically, used of any burden or bondage: as that of slavery.”
We will be “yoked” to something or someone in life. We were created to be linked, created to worship, and created to live for a god. Even as a Christian, I can tell you some things I’ve been yoked to that have been heavy burdens and have robbed me of rest! How about. . . trying every which way to satisfy myself with people, things, approval… or trying to produce “fruit” without being properly attached to the life-giving Vine by being “good” or doing church work….or, living a life with little compromises and convincing myself it’s not that bad. . . .? Shall I go on? Have you been there? I picture a hamster running on a wheel, going nowhere! Not to mention that the hamster is living in a cage, and usually with his own excrement nearby! This is not how we were meant to live!! A life of surrender to Jesus won’t be “easy” in the practical action of doing … but the release of control will yield the peace and rest Jesus speaks of. Being tethered to anything or anyone else will WEAR YOU OUT!!
Chuck Smith said it like this in his commentary on Matthew 11:
Every man bears a burden. A man’s burden is that master passion by which his life is governed. Jesus said, “My burden is light.” What was His burden? What was behind the life of Jesus? What was the main thrust behind His life? He revealed it in His first recorded words, when He was just twelve years old, when He said to His mother Mary, “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49) . . . What are the heavy burdens of man? What is the burden of life that you are trying to carry? What is the master passion behind your whole life?
What is my “master passion”? Is it an easy, comfortable yoke, or one that makes me weary and burdened? Ah, if you are on a weary road, Jesus says, “Come.” He doesn’t fuss or condemn, He says, let me give you the rest you need. Join me and I will change your priorities in a way that eases those burdens! Hallelujah!
Devotional by Heather Cornett
