Blog-tember Challenge prompt: What’s in your bag?
Pick up your purse and peruse its contents, then share with us!
Are you a crazy bag lady like me? Do you carry a lot of stuff with you everywhere you go?
What we carry around with us isn’t limited to our bags and purses. Some of us walking around with the weight of the world on our shoulders. It’s not just about having baggage. It’s about that baggage – our problems and issues – affecting our daily activities.
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, NIV)
I’ve always wondered how Jesus’ yoke can be so easy and light when He carried the cross and carried the burden of everybody’s sins. How can I find rest in taking that on?
I have walked around with the weight of the world on my shoulders. I have let my baggage affect my daily activities. I used to live in dread of the morning. I had to drag myself to get up, but there were many days when I just didn’t. I couldn’t. I slept days away because it literally hurt to get up. The baggage inside turned into physical ailments and pinched muscles.
Turning it all over to God wasn’t easy, so I’m not telling you about Jesus’ promise in Matthew 11:28-30 lightly. These aren’t throwaway verses. For me, they give hope.
Jesus invites us to take His yoke upon ourselves because His work on the cross is finished. He carried the cross. He shouldered the sins of the world. He did it all so we don’t have to.
Jesus’ yoke is not the cross or the burden of sins. His yoke are the results of His work at the cross. His yoke is eternal life. His yoke is love, joy, and peace. His yoke is faith. His yoke are the blessings of God.
To take up the yoke of Jesus, we have to remove our own. It’s not easy but it’s worth it.
