Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
“This is a great oasis in the midst of such a desert,” shared a healing room guest this past week. Unknowingly, this guest had echoed a word that had just been read and prayed by one of our team ministers from Matthew 11: 28-30 from The Passion Translation Bible, during our pre-ministry time of worship and prayer. “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis.” (Mt. 11:28 TPT) As this team member prayed, a sole index card sat before me with the hand-written Words from Matthew 11: 28-30 on it, Words from God that I desired to shape my heart and life this year.
Amidst the escalating stress from this world, I believe God is now highlighting these Words to not only me, but to you, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (NKJV) “I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis.” (TPT) Mt. 11:28 Jesus desires to give you rest from the stress. The way you can receive His rest is by following His instructions, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Mt. 11:29-20
Jesus desires to give you rest from the stress.
What does it mean to take Jesus’ yoke upon you? In Jesus’ day, a rabbi’s teaching, HIs interpretation and application of the Old Testament Scriptures, were referred to as a yoke. The rabbi’s teaching-yoke included a long cumbersome “to-do” list – laws, rules, regulations, traditions – that was impossible for anyone to fulfill. Jesus contrasted His yoke of love and grace to this legalistic laborious yoke as being “easy and light.” Perhaps, you can think of an area of your life where this applies, an area where you have been taking on yoke from religion, the world, the flesh, or the devil that you were never meant to carry.
In this passage, a yoke is also referring to a heavy wooden beam placed over the neck of two oxen, enabling them to pull together a plow or a heavy load. A younger untrained ox always needs to be paired with a mature well-trained ox, so he can learn how to carry a heavy burden easily. While the younger ox learns how to operate in complete unison with the well trained ox, the mature ox carries the brunt of the yoke’s weight, taking the responsibility of the job getting done. Jesus desires that you be yoked to Him, following His lead, so that the burdens of life can become light and easy, as you rest in His strength, His power and ability, to get the job done.
If you are weary or carrying a heavy burden, in any area of your life, hear Jesus say to you, “I am your oasis.” An oasis is a fertile place where a supply of water has caused a flourishing ecosystem to exist in the midst of dry barren dessert. Today, as well as everyday of your life, you have the privilege of coming to Jesus, your oasis, and being revived, renewed, rejuvenated. Here in God’s Oasis, Jesus and His Kingdom, you can find rest for your soul.
Abiding in Jesus, your Oasis, and having “The Oasis” abide in you, gives you the ability to do the hard and difficult things of life in an easy way, because you are doing them in union with Jesus. (Jn. 15:4)
Finding rest in Him,
Ken and Sue Burdullis