Scripture: Matthew 11 v 28 - 30: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
One of the most beautiful things about Jesus is the rest He gives to His followers. Our lives get too heavy for us at times. Too many demands on our time, extra pressure, people letting you down, burn out or melt down.
We can orchestrate our own problems too. We bottle things up inside until we explode, causing hurt to those around us, then have to do damage control that very often backfires. That's when we become heavy laden. It can result in health problems like high blood pressure or heart problems. It can cause nervous or mental breakdowns.
When Jesus went to the Cross He took everything we could possible suffer upon Himself to spare us these burdens. In Isaiah 53 v 4 - 5, the prophet reveals: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
He died to give us life. He was cruelly whipped with hooks that stripped the flesh off His back, and each of those lashes or stripes covered a category of every disease or affliction known to mankind. He took our punishment for wrongdoing and sin because He died to set us free.
He bore our griefs and sorrows which takes care of every kind of depression. Why do we spend thousands on tranquilizers or anti-depressants when the Word says the joy of the Lord is our strength. In the Bible depression is called the spirit of heaviness.
There is an instant remedy for this. Put on the garment of praise to be released from the spirit of heaviness. Start praising God for all your blessings. Rejoice and be glad for all He has done for you. Depression flies out the window because Satan hates a praising Christian. He does not hang around when we are praising our Saviour all the day long.
Jesus wants us to be filled with peace, joy and love. That is His nature. He is also patient, kind, faithful, meek and has perfect self-control. He is our prototype and its our job to become like Him. We must be clothed with righteousness like He is. We are in Him and He is in us and we must reflect His glory.
He says His burden is light and His yoke is easy and He invites us to take His yoke upon ourselves. He is saying join yourself to Me and participate in the things I lead you to and you will find peace and rest for your souls even while you are doing them. I am personally the most happiest when I am praying with people and seeing God bless them, than any other thing I could be doing.
These days some of our greatest burdens are financial as when debts mount up. In John 10 v 10: "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
When we are struggling under this type of debt we need to examine where the thief, Satan, has been at work. He not only kills and destroys people's lives, but he steals our jobs, or our promising projects, or causes costly illness or in many other ways tampered with our money.
Because he is unseen we tend to blame that which is known and visible, practical and immediate. We never see his plans ahead of time unless we are in real fellowship with God, our Father. He alerts us and causes us to pray about specific issues that directly affect us. He wants us to live in His abundance but we must obey Him moment by moment to achieve it.
Recognize what Jesus has done to enhance your life, and remove yourself from the burdens of the world. Have faith in God to meet your needs and you will be surprised at how He achieves this. Lay your needs before Him and pray over your debts.
For the past twenty years I have had no fixed income but the Lord has met every single need. I put it all before Him and trusted Him. I gave Him my life to do with as He pleased, and He blessed it and filled it with His treasures. I am not rich, living in luxury, but I am truly satisfied and content.
I can only praise and thank Him with a grateful heart for His faithfulness and love. It is my joy to serve Him in whatever way He requires. Freely, freely we have received, freely, freely give.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, You have freely given us salvation and life, what can we do for You? You made it possible for us to offload our burdens, and enter into Your rest. Let us not be deceived into carrying unnecessary burdens and heavy yokes, but doing that which is light and easy. May You be glorified in all we do. In Jesus' name. Amen.
