It Doesn't Matter How You Got There!
By David J. Stewart | April 2014
Matthew 11:28-30, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
What a wonderful truth. Please notice that two
groups of people are mentioned here. The first group are those who LABOR.
The second group are those who are HEAVY LADEN. The first group are those
people who LABOR to create there own burden(s). The second group are those
who are HEAVY LADEN with burdens that other people place upon them.
For example: a teenage girls gets pregnant out of wedlock. She has labored to create her own burden. She caused her own burden. Whereas her parents are heavy laden with a burden that they didn't cause. They did their best as imperfect parents, but their daughter made her own decision to get pregnant. The Lord says in Matthew 11:28-30 to COME UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT LABOUR (the teenage daughter) AND ARE HEAVY LADEN (the girl's parents), AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST.
Notice that the Lord DIDN'T say that He wants to remove our burden. No, that's not how it works. We need a burden. God doesn't want to take away our burden. Galatians 6:5, For every man shall bear his own burden. The Bible says in Lamentations 3:27, It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. The Lord never promises to remove our burden; but rather, He wants to exchange His yoke for our yoke. Jesus says that His yoke is EASY, and His burden is LIGHT. Jesus wants to switch our yokes, His for ours. The Lord tells us to COME UNTO HIM. That's the first thing we must do. Then when we come to the Lord, He removes our yoke and places His yoke upon us. What an awesome Savior!!!
Now what is a yoke? A yoke is made out of wood or iron, placed across the shoulders of TWO animals (like oxen) to pull a plow (i.e., a load, a burden, to accomplish work). Our yoke is heavy to pull because we are yoked with our sins.
The first thing that every person needs to do is to come to Jesus for salvation. When you come to Jesus through the cross of Calvary, receiving the gospel as full payment for your sins, then you are born-again and saved. Instead of you bearing the burden of your sins, Christ bore the weight of our sins on the cross. Any gospel that places the burden of sin upon the sinner is a false gospel. The heresy of Lordship Salvation places the burden of sin upon the sinner, demanding that a person clean up their life of sin as a prerequisite to be saved. In sharp contrast, the Bible teaches that Jesus bore the weight of our sins on the cross. A person is saved by acknowledging their guilt of sin before God the Father, and placing their trust (faith) in Christ's death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection from the dead three days later.
There are many Christian believers who choose to live in sin, robbing them of their joy and peace in the Lord. When you let go of your own will and instead submit to God's revealed will in the Bible, God exchanges your yoke of personal sin for a yoke which the Lord will pull with you. Even though a Christian's sins are forgiven and forsaken, as far as salvation is concerned, it is possible for a believer to live in deliberate sin and lose God's blessings in their life. When a believer chooses to follow a path of worldly living, they labor (create) their own burdens. The Lord invites every sinful believer to COME UNTO ME, promising rest!
There is a sweet rest and peace of soul knowing that one is right with God, having a perfect heart toward God. A perfect heart means that you're not double-minded, that is, straddling the fence. God says that He wants us COLD or HOT, or else He'll vomit us out of His mouth (Revelation 3:15-16). Most professed Christians are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, never taking a stand for God, never sharing the gospel, never lifting a finger to contend for the Christian faith, et cetera. Life is short, Hell is hot and eternity is a long time.
