Day 5 of 7, a study on rest that isn't retirement.
Day one of this study, Jesus said come to me, all who are weary. He doesn't stop there. The next verse tells you what to actually do once you've come, and it's not what I expected the first hundred times I read it.
"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 easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:29-30
I always assumed rest meant taking every yoke off entirely, empty hands, nothing pulling at all. Jesus offers a different picture: not no yoke, but his yoke, which he calls easy and light in a way my own self-imposed ones never have been. I've spent this whole season carrying yokes I built myself, mostly out of old habits from a career that's over. This verse is an invitation to trade those in, not for nothing, but for something actually light.
Today's Question
What yoke have you been carrying that was never actually his to give you?
A Short Prayer
Lord, I want to trade my own heavy yoke for the light one you're actually offering. Teach me your gentleness. Give my soul the rest it's been missing. Amen.
God bless,
Paul