To Read
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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.
—Matthew 11:28–30
To Consider
For me, religion always came up short. Sometimes I found it confusing and frustrating. I felt I could never be good enough for God to accept me, and I was never sure how good I had to be in order to be good enough. I misunderstood, though, the vast difference between religion and Christ.
In the above verses, Jesus Christ invited those who “labor and are heavy laden” to come to Him. The two major religious factions of Christ’s day laid down an enormous amount of regulations to follow in order to be accepted by God. The religious leaders insisted upon enforcing an endless list of dos and don’ts. One of those regulations even stipulated certain days on which you couldn’t hit a donkey with your whip! You can imagine how confusing, tiring, and frustrating those regulations were.
Christ was passionate that we understand how different His instructions are. The word yoke refers to a wooden frame placed upon the shoulders that makes a burden easier to bear. In the verses above yoke refers to Christ’s instructions on how to live a life pleasing to God. Why is His yoke so different?
First, you’ve been saved through your personal faith in Christ, so you’re not living for Him in order to be accepted by God. You’re living for Him because you’ve already been accepted. Second, you’re living for someone who is “gentle and lowly in heart”—humble, not haughty. That kind of person is easy to follow. Third, while He is teaching you how to live, He’s right there giving you strength. That’s why He exclaimed, “My yoke is easy. My burden is light.”
If you do wrong, He’s sympathetic and understanding, forgiving you and helping you to be stronger next time. Living for Him becomes a delight, not a duty, because living for Him is centered on a relationship, not regulations. Religion can be burdensome. A relationship with Christ is a relief.
To Illustrate
A book called Mushrooms on the Moor contains the story of a believer who knew that at the center of the Christian life was a relationship with the One who had died for him. Eventually, the believer became ill and was confined to bed. A document was brought to him that required his signature. He took a pen and held it for a long moment, signed the document, then fell back upon his pillow, dead. It then became obvious how grateful that believer was for the Savior and how privileged he felt to live for Him. On the paper the believer had written not his own name but the name Jesus—the One he was about to see face to face.
To Meditate
Religion focuses on the regulations you must follow to be accepted by God. The Christian life focuses on your relationship with God, a relationship made possible because, through Christ, He has accepted you.
To Pray
Take a moment to praise God for bringing you into an eternal relationship with the Savior. Give Him thanks that you can now live for Him out of gratitude and delight.
This blog post has been adapted from the book 31 Days to Living as a New Believer.
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