“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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 NASB1995)

We must be careful here that we do not misread Jesus’ words, as many do, and then assume that God is going to make life easy for us if we just put our trust in the Lord Jesus. For Jesus Christ and his New Testament apostles taught us that, if our faith in Jesus Christ is of God, and not of human flesh, that we will be hated and persecuted as Jesus was hated and persecuted. People will insult us, say all manner of evil against us, and will mistreat us. And we will be faced with all kinds of trials and tribulations to test our faith.

(Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3-5; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; James 1:2-4; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Hebrews 12:3-12; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13)

So, then, what did Jesus mean by what he said here that he will give us rest, and that if we take his yoke upon us, that his yoke is easy and his burden is light? Well, based on the list of Scriptures above letting us know that life will be hard and painful for us who follow Jesus with our lives, it does not mean that we are going to be without pain and suffering. It just means that if we give our suffering over to the Lord, and we rely on his strength to get us through it all, that we can rest in our souls, knowing that God is in control.

It means that our Lord will take the emotional burden off our shoulders so that we are not worrying and fretting over our circumstances, but to where we can rest securely in the Lord’s wisdom, guidance, and strength. We are not alone in our suffering, and we do not have to bear the weight of whatever we are going through all alone. We can rest in knowing that whatever has happened and is happening presently in our lives, that God is still sovereign over it all. And he has a plan and a purpose for it, too.

What we are going through presently will not be wasted if we put our trust in the Lord and we trust him to carry us each step of the way. We can be at peace even when we have no idea what is coming next, just knowing that our Lord has it all handled, and that none of this can come into our lives unless he allows it, he allows it for a purpose, and he will bring good out of it in our lives if we rest in him, and if we do not try to control the situations ourselves, in our own strength and wisdom, which may not be of God.

But this apparently is not just on the subject of Christian suffering, but this is an invitation to come to faith in Jesus Christ and he will take away from us the burden of sin if we are willing and obedient, and if we will die with him to sin that we might now walk in obedience to his commands. For to take his yoke upon us is to deny self, die to sin, and to follow him in obedience to his commands. It is to submit to him and to his will for our lives, and to surrender our all to him, and to let him be the one to direct our paths.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

So, whether we are presently followers of Jesus Christ who are suffering persecution for our faith, or who are suffering emotionally and/or physically via the trials and tribulations of life, or we are non-believers in Jesus or we are fallen Christians who are suffering under the weight of sin in our lives, and we need to be freed from those burdens, Jesus’ message is the same. We need to come to him in faith and put our lives in his hands and trust him to give us all that we need to obey him in following wherever he leads us.

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown
Music by American Melody

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).

I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

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Rest Securely in The Lord’s Wisdom
An Original Work / December 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love