
One of my favourite scriptures is Matthew 11.28: Jesus says, ‘Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened…
God Almighty allows problems of all angles to come to us; I know I’ve said this before but I will say it again; some of them are initiated by Satan; to understand this, you have to read a conversation between Father God and Satan; Job 1:6-22, and then chapter 2:1-10
How many times are we bombarded with problems? What it a burden? As you know, it is an occurrence that is hard to bear or something that makes you uncomfortable, thus it takes your joy or makes you frustrated; something that makes you feel trapped or makes you live in fear; something that you are addicted to and you know it is ruining your life; something that brings you pain, and makes you feel insecure and uncertain, etc.
I’ve only mentioned a few but there are many of them you can think of in your own life. God Almighty knows all the details of our problems; he also knows people are burdened by false religions, false ideas, bad governments, economic problems, bad relationships, poverty, etc.
God is drawing people to Jesus Christ, that’s why Jesus says, ‘Come to me, and I’ll give you rest and peace.’
And then he says, ‘Take my yoke upon you….’
What does he mean?
Think about it; what is a yoke in Jesus? English is my second language, but I can explain it as the Holy Spirit leads me; I believe a yoke is when you attach yourself to somebody; so, he is saying, ‘Attach yourself to me; don’t handle problems on your own; have faith in God.’
Jesus knew a human being in detail; and he knew most of our problems are caused by our sinful nature or other people sinning against us.
I have to tell you most of my problems have been brought about by those two dimensions; so, our lives can be like a vicious circle, you do something to someone or vice versa.
He also says, ‘Learn from me…he means, I have all the guidance you need to sort out your damaged life. I’m the way, the truth and the life… I’m also your councillor for no prophet or an angel or another human being is going to help you like me.
Paul said, ‘I’m astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all; Galatians 1:6
He was very concerned; because you have to remember that he was from a different religion (Judaism), and persecuted Christians; after his conversation he went to Asia, Syria and so many other places, preaching the gospel of Christ. So, what he saw, shocked him, people were turning to new religions.
And then he went on to say; evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. How many people are confused by ideas created by man? I can name a few; evolution, politics, secular ideology, false religions, etc.
When you look into the history of religions they were all started by one person; that person, whoever it was, would take bits from the bible and then add on their own theories, and this has spread around the world like fire; with that in mind a person has to be careful when they preach about God – it has to be from the Bible.
Paul goes on to say, ‘Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one, we preached to you, let him be condemned;
So, when you have Jesus in your life, he becomes your solution, your comfort, and your friend. He says, I’m gentle and humble in heart; he means, he looks at your life with compassion; he wants to help you, because you’re weak.
Many people seem to be in control of their lives; they are quite successful in their endeavours, and seem to be happy on the outside, but the inside is full of uncertainty and weaknesses; so, when they face problems, that’s when the reality kicks in, that they need a helping hand. And without God it is impossible for a human being to be happy, for he provides the needs we stand on.
Sometimes those in in less developed countries may think that those in much more developed ones are sorted! Who said so? That’s a fantasy! The pressure of life is all around us – it can get you wherever you are.
Jesus says, ‘In me you’ll find rest; it is true, when your life is in him, you’ll find peace; and when you focus your mind on him, don’t focus on the problems.
He says, ‘My yoke is easy; meaning life becomes easier when we turn away from bad things; in him we feel secure in our salvation; in him, we have a fulfilment of life.
He says, ‘My burden is light.’ It is true, when we are in Jesus, we learn to simplify our lives, for his guidance is not burdensome – it is good for us; so, when we focus on the Bible our mind becomes lighter; also, in Jesus we sing happy songs of praise and dance, because God is on our side.