BE FREE OF YOUR BURDENS - JUNE 2015

5/27/2015

Come to me you who have found rest in Jesus, and you will be given a burden.

That can’t be right! Come to me, and I will give you a heavy burden? No one wants that! How can it be that often the church seems to be the cause of our wearying, heavy burdens instead of the source of relief from burdens?

The actual words of Jesus are,

28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

If we are feeling weary and heavy with burdens, we need relief, the relief Jesus offers. How can we as the church be part of lifting burdens and giving rest? The church like any volunteer organization is always in need of workers and this can lead to weariness and burn out.

Jesus offer us the solution. A well-grounded life in Christ. A life with time to listen to God, to take the yoke of Christ and abandon the yoke of our pride and desire for success. I believe we all need time each day to be still, to sit and listen to Christ. As we sit and listen for God’s word of peace and forgiveness, we are then freed to give our burdens to God. The way to avoid weariness is to remember to rest. The way to rest is take the time away from busyness to slow down, and listen for God.

This summer I invite you to rest. Take time each day to rest in God, to listen for God, to seek the gentle and humble heart of Jesus. Dallas Willard once said,

“The main thing God gets out of your life is not the achievements you accomplish. It is the person you become.”

The way to become more like Christ is to spend time with Christ. The way to find rest for our souls is to rest in Christ. The way to release our heavy burdens is to give the burdens to Christ, who longs to carry them for us.

I am so thankful that Christ loves us, is for us and with us. Let us together lay down our burdens to take up the yoke of Christ, the only yoke that is easy and light.

In Christ,

Pastor Cliff