This baggage called life...

Matthew 11: 28-30 

“Come to me, all you 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 easy and my burden is light” 

One thing that I’ve realised in these last couple of months is that life happens. I’ve seen ‘life’ happen to those around me, and I’ve seen ‘life’ happen to myself. When I say life, I don’t merely mean the act of living or the breath in your lungs, but rather everything you experience outside of that. ‘Life’ could be synonymous to that problem your facing, or that circumstance that you're in. ‘Life’ is a common thing that we all share, and if you’ve lived long enough it’s likely you faced a problem that you carried. Maybe you are carrying that problem right now, but I want to remind you that someone is there to carry it for you.  

Looking at the verse, there’s a couple of things to learn. We see that the rest God promises for our lives isn’t exclusive. It says, “all you who are weary and burdened”, not some of you or most of you, but “all”, and so it’s our decision whether or not we want to be passive. Some of you reading this may feel like your problems aren’t worth going to God, but it is: your ‘life’ is never too big or too small to take to God. 

Another part of the verse I wanted to focus on was the idea of “yoke”. The first thing that may come to mind when we read this is an egg yoke, however a biblical “yoke” is much different. In context, the yoke the bible is talking about is the wooden frame placed over the necks of two animals, usually oxen, and was used as a way to pull a cart together. Essentially, the purpose of the yoke is to walk side by side, in the same pace, with the same weight.  

In correlation with the verse, the “yoke” refers to our life. It’s an analogy to depict how our lives are experienced. In our lives, we sometimes carry things alongside with us: in the same pace, with the same weight. Maybe you’re carrying that financial issue alongside with you, maybe you’re carrying that heartbreak with you, maybe you’re carrying that family struggle alongside you, whatever it is, someone is there to carry that weight, and that someone is Jesus.  

And so, with Jesus saying, “all who are weary and burdened” He is also saying, come to me all who are carrying their issues by themselves: “come to me all who” are carrying this baggage called ‘life’, and He will give you rest. Jesus is much more than the issues you are facing, or the problems you are going through. 

When Jesus says, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”, He is saying if you carry Him along your journey called ‘life’, He is lighter than whatever you're currently carrying. Whatever issue you may be facing, bring Jesus alongside with you.  

Above anything else, let’s carry Jesus into our lives because not only is His burden light but also when we carry Jesus, He carries us and our problems.