By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“If you feel that the weight of your circumstances is too heavy to bear, maybe it’s because the burden is yours, not His.” – Jennifer Rothschild

Annie and I live on the third floor of our apartment building. This means, whenever we are taking in groceries, we both try to take as many bags as possible with the hope that we only need to take one trip. I usually stand with my arms outstretched as Annie feeds grocery bag after grocery bag onto and up my arms. I usually end up with around ten bags on each arm.

Let me tell you, carrying twenty grocery bags up three flights of stairs is a big burden to bear!

Sadly, in this life, the burdens that we have to carry aren’t just physical ones. There are emotional and spiritual burdens that many of us are carrying even now. We might have been carrying the same burden for a really long time.

The good news is this. In the words of Jesus:

“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,” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Are you burdened today?

In this passage Jesus making us a deal. He says that if we yoke ourselves to Him, just as two oxen are yoked together, he will remove our burden.

You might be thinking, “Well, that’s a pretty crummy deal. It seems to me that I’m exchanging one burden for another.”

But here’s the catch:

Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

If we yoke ourselves to Him, Jesus promises that the burden upon our shoulders will be lifted.

He promises us rest; soulful rest.

Yoke yourself to Jesus. Cast your burden upon Him. Learn from Him. His yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Find rest.

Parents: Ask your children about the heaviest thing they have ever carried. Ask them if they’ve ever been through a hard time where it felt like they were carrying something heavy on their shoulders. Explain to them that Jesus wants to take that burden from them.