As a high school basketball player on occasion we would have to wear a fifty-pound weighted vest while doing various running and jumping drills. After only a few minutes of wearing this vest during these drills my legs would start to wobble, I would be gasping for breath and I could literally feel myself starting to droop beneath the weight of the vest. The thing I remember most about that experience is the moment I got to take the vest off. It felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. Suddenly, I could run faster and jump higher. I was a whole new person. Now I could play to my full potential without the hindrance of a weighty burden. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was learning a tremendous spiritual principle. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 KJV).
Are you weighed down with the burdens of life? Jesus beckons you to come unto him and find rest. The weights of life will wear you down much quicker than a fifty-pound weighted vest. As we journey through life with all of its cares and concerns it’s easy to get beaten down. It seems contradictory to think rest and relief come from putting on another “yoke” or burden, but Jesus invites us to take his yoke and learn about him, and as a result we will find rest for our weary souls. When we begin a relationship with Jesus Christ our problems and cares don’t automatically vanish. But it is a blessing to know we have someone (Jesus) who cares for us and upon whom we can cast our cares (I Peter 5:7). Some people are so used to carrying their burden they think it’s just the way life is supposed to be. They have no idea Jesus wants to give them a better life – one filled with rest. Come unto him today and cast your burdens upon him. He will give you rest for your soul.