COME UNTO ME ALL YE THAT ARE HEAVILY LADEN
COME UNTO ME ALL YE THAT ARE HEAVILY LADEN
By Evangeline Unity Esaaba Folson
11:28 come unto me all ye that labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest
11:29 take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and loyal in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The passage above, were word spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ. Many find Christianity a very difficult religion as there are a lot of “dos” and “don’ts”. Some would say why should I as Romans 12:18-21 says!
Why should I live peaceably with all men when some keep provoking me?
Why should I leave vengeance to the Lord?
Why should I love my enemies?
These directions from Romans 12:18-21 are very difficult to follow as humans because we have the tendency to recompense *(make amends for loss or harm) evil for evil.
The passage from Matthew 11:28-30 is trying to explain to us that the ways or commands of the Lord are not difficult to follow if we surrender our life and will to the Lord. I will elaborate on each verse to make things clearer.
Matthew 11:28
Another translation of this verse says:
Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.
Christianity is actually very simple but human beings have made it complex. Ephesians 2:8-10 says:
Christianity or salvation is a gift given to us by the grace of God.
You do not have to work for it, it is free of charge
When you accept the gift of salvation, be good to others as Christ has been good to you.
Christians today are burdened because, they mix Christianity with occultism or fetish practices because they want people to see and believe that they are powerful.
God is all powerful and we do not need any power to prove the ability of God, He can prove Himself. Psalm 46:10 says:
Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth.
Furthermore, Jeremiah 32:27 says:
Behold, I am the lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for me?
Matthew 11:29
What does Jesus mean by yoke?
Jesus is saying that “His yoke is a choice” with every decision you make. You can choose your burden. You can take up your burden, the one that will become too heavy to bear or you can choose His.
Jewish people described living under obedience to the law as having a yoke upon them. A yoke is a wooden device used to harness the working power of an animal, especially oxen.
In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees made that load even heavier by adding manmade requirements and regulations on top of the law of Moses (Matthew 23:4)
Taking the yoke of Jesus, means giving Jesus control and letting Him direct our efforts. The work He has will not be difficult. He wants us to learn from what He did when He became man. He did not come to add our burden but to give us rest for our souls.
Matthew 11:30
What does Jesus mean by saying: my yoke is easy and my burden is light? I believe He means to say that what He will require or demand from us is easy and can be achieved easily.
Ecclesiastes 12 :13 says:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God, and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of men.
“fearing God” or giving god the honor and respect He deserves is not a difficult thing to do.
“keeping His commandment” or obeying His laws and principles is also easy to do as compared to what other deities demand. Like Ecclesiastes 12:13 says fearing God and obeying His commands is all that is required of us as Christians.
The important thing is studying the Bible and taking note of all the commands and praying for grace and strength to obey all of them.
Conclusion
If you are burdened or heavy laden with the commandments and requirements of your religion, come unto Jesus. Accept the gift of salvation and live as a born again Christian.
Your burdens well be lighter and easier to bear.
Think about the words of this song
He is able, more than able
To accomplish what concerns me today
He is able, more than able
He can handle anything that comes my way
He is able more able to do much more than
I could ever dream
He is able, more than able
To make make me what
He wants me to be. (Ephesians 3:20)
Amen
References
2. Oxford English Minidictionary
