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“Come to Me, all 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

In your quest for true refreshment, here is part 3…

3. UNBURDEN YOURSELF WITH JESUS.

Friend, the weight of the world is heavy. It’s so easy to be burdened by a to-do list and the daily demands on us. To be pressed by trying to do and be “good enough”—desiring the accolades and “atta girls” from others, and even from God.

Oh, trying to carry it all ourselves…the worry, the anxiety, the must-dos, the fears, the perfection…it is not only a burdensome yoke. It will ultimately crush us.

But Jesus beckons us…

Matthew 11:28-30  “Come to Me, all 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.”

Jesus invites us to come to Him for rest. He wants us to surrender our heavy burdens of this world and give them over to Him.

See, we do, and we try, and we strive…to earn our way to heaven, to save ourselves. But these efforts are endless, and they are fruitless. But there is respite. A way to throw off that yoke around our neck. Jesus invites us to make a trade—a Great Exchange. Our yoke for His. Shackles for freedom.

Jesus has done the work, sweet friend. He has suffered the penalty and paid the price of our sin, making a way of reconciliation with God. He has freed us from the endless self-effort of self-salvation that, despite it all, can never be enough, because God requires perfection.

But all we have to do is accept the Exchange.

Christmas is coming. When we get a gift that really stinks, but there’s a gift receipt with it…and we go to Kohl’s or wherever, and we use that receipt to exchange the stinky gift for something that we really love and need…this is kinda like that, only a gazillion times better.

Jesus has paid for this gift of salvation—of freedom from the burden of this world and of our sins. It’s a gift of grace—it doesn’t cost you anything. But you do have to make the exchange—returning, so to speak, what you’re holding onto. You’ve got to give HIM all your efforts, the sin, the world’s lies you’ve bought into.

Acts 3:19  “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

The grace of God through Jesus Christ is true refreshment. Maybe you’ve made this Great Exchange, accepting the gift of salvation…but, for whatever reason you’re still clinging to the old things as well—and it’s burdening you. Let go of that yoke—and stop trying to take it back from Him.

Or maybe you’re reading this, and you’re living under the crushing weight of a yoke, a burden that you didn’t know you could abandon. Oh, friend, you don’t have to carry it anymore. All you have to do is acknowledge that you want to make the Exchange…that you want to trade your burdens, your sin, and your unrighteousness for the freedom that Jesus offers. Give it to Him and accept the free gift of His righteousness, paid for in full, so you can be free and your soul can find rest.

Revelation 22:17  “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the water of life without cost.”

“Lord, let there be just one who, right now, will surrender their heavy-laden burden for gift of freedom in Christ. Let them surrender and come to You.”

For His Glory

Julianne Winkler Smith
TRBC Women’s Life