Together in Christ: 'Find Rest for Your Soul' — Matthew 11:28-30

Monday, February 19, 2024

Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."

— Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

Key Thought

Jesus made sure His followers realized His high standards for following Him as a disciple. [1] He wanted us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. [2] When we choose to follow Jesus, we each voluntarily place our life and future in His hands. Counting the cost and following Jesus bring life to the full. [3] Our future is tied to Jesus and is secure with Him. [4] Our eternal rewards will be glorious, making the struggles of this life pale in comparison to our future glory. [5]

With just a superficial reading, Jesus' statement that His yoke is easy and His burden is light may be hard to accept because we all face difficulties and challenges as His followers. At other times, Jesus recognized these realities when He said that the road to life is difficult and that his disciples will suffer persecution. [6] The resolution of the apparent conflict is in the context of the statements in today's verses. These statements go with the previous sentence about finding rest for our souls. We find that rest because Jesus has already done everything that is needed for us to have peaceful assurance of the ultimate result in spite of whatever difficulties we may have in this life, and that assurance brings rest for our souls. [7]

We base our present hope in Jesus' promises to come to us, live in us, make His home with us, and show Himself to us. [8] When we submit our wills to Jesus, He walks with us, supports us, sustains us, and enables us in ways that we could never imagine. [9] We live in a rugged and broken world, but we don't journey to our eternal home alone. God is with us. When we finally arrive, we will be at our eternal home with God. [10] These assurances make our life's journey easier and our burdens lighter!

[1] Luke 9:23, 62, 14:33.
[2] Matthew 22:36-40.
[3] John 10:10.
[4] Colossians 3:1-4; Romans 8:28-39.
[5] Romans 8:18.
[6] Matthew 7:13-14; John 15:20.
[7] John 14:1-3. "Don't let your hearts be troubled" in this passage is parallel to Jesus' statement in today's verses about the easy yoke and light burden. The basis for not being troubled is clear in this passage when Jesus continued with assurance about our heavenly home.
[8] John 14:18-23, Romans 8:32-39; Hebrews 13:5-6.
[9] Ephesians 3:14-21.
[10] Psalm 23:1-6; 2 Timothy 4:17.

Today's Prayer

Lord God, please give me eyes to see Your work in my life and Your protection over my future. I offer all I am and all I hope to accomplish in Your mission for my life. I embrace Your call to Your Lordship over me and all that I have. I need the ongoing leading of Your Spirit to direct me in the way I need to go so I can fulfill Your will for me. As Jesus taught me, I pray for Your will be done in my life, O God, and Your Kingdom come to our world, O Lord! [A] I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen!

[A] Matthew 6:9-10.

Related Scripture Readings

  • Matthew 6:9-16
  • Ephesians 1:19-23, 3:14-21

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Illustration

Illustration of Matthew 11:28-30 NLT — Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."

About This Devotional

Together in Christ is a daily devotional that focuses on what Scripture teaches about godly living in relationships.

'Together in Christ' is written by Phil Ware.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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