These past few days, I enjoyed writing devotional materials for a children’s ministry event at a church in Texas that blended so beautifully with things I had written in Guarded by Christ last year. For one of the devotionals, I wrote about being at rest with Jesus in the fortress of His care. If you read Matthew 11 and the famous invitation from Jesus, you’ll find two verbs I love:
Come and take.
Jesus says in verses 28-10, “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.”
I ask the children to note how we come to Jesus (in prayer, with our Bibles and journals) and we take from Jesus the yoke that He’s also carrying with us. And it’s an easy and light yoke that’s pulling a cart He designed just for us. Sometimes we pull heavy loads that God never asked us to pull. Sometimes we do this all alone and never come to Jesus in our weariness. We never come to Him to let Him give us rest. We never come to Him and learn.
We never come and receive the very special gift God gives: rest.
If life isn’t feeling easy and light, I remember to come to Jesus and take the yoke He gives me, not one I–or others–put on me.