By Bill Herried

You Want To Change The World?

learn to rest

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” —Matthew 11:28–30

What is it about Jesus that is so winsome? Here is a man who never ran for election. Never led a military. He never wrote a book or reigned as a king. In fact, aside from a short time in Egypt as a baby, he never traveled outside his own country. And yet he changed the world.

What is it that is so winsome about Jesus?

I believe that the key to understanding Jesus is his humility.

Matthew, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, tells us that Jesus invited any who would, to come and learn from him—because he is gentle and humble in heart. And when they did, they would find rest for their souls.

What makes this humility so striking is that it comes on the heels of miracle after miracle: He turned water into wine. He healed people with incurable diseases. He gave sight to those born blind. He instantly healed people unable to walk for decades—they stood up and carried the mat home that they had been brought to Jesus on.

He brought the dead back to life. He gave hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute, often warning them not to tell anyone about it. A kind of negative self-promotion.

With all that as background, Jesus calls to the weary, the burdened, the depressed and fatigued to come to him. He promises rest. Just as he restored those with sickness and disease, he promises restoration and rest.

Rest from expectations. Rest from disappointment. Rest from the never-ending treadmill of performance.

Rest.

How does he do that? He says to let go of the burdens that weigh you down and take his yoke upon yourself. In the ancient world, this yoke was used by beasts of burden, or even a human slave (e.g., a curved board across the shoulders used to carry large jars of water).

He says “take my yoke upon you and let me teach you...” The word “teach” in the original language is the root word for “disciple.” So, to paraphrase, Jesus is saying “serve my purposes and disciple yourself to me.”

Then he continues, “…for I am humble and gentle at heart.” Jesus’ teaching will bring us to humility and gentleness—which are not highly valued attitudes in our world.

What is valued is self-promotion; pushing yourself and your agenda—which translates to a self-serving life. Although we instinctively think that this is the way ahead, if we go far enough down that path, we discover that a self-serving life leads to emptiness. Every time. Self-serving is a weight we must set aside to take his burden upon ourselves.

Then what does Jesus’ burden look like? It serves God’s purposes in our world. We love God by serving others. Jesus says that this yoke—his yoke—”is easy to bear, and his burden is light.”

What does that mean for us? In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul is instructing a young group of believers to use their ability to serve others and he says:

“I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” —Acts 20:35

“It is more blessed to give, than to receive.” “…my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” When we carry Jesus’ burden—in other words, when we serve his purpose in our world—that burden is light, because it brings joy. When you take his burden upon yourself, you discover why you were created and experience God’s peace, which goes beyond our understanding.

Rest.

All of this is experienced by becoming lowly. Humble. Like Jesus. Take whatever opportunity you have to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. If you’re not part of a local church, find one this week and show up. Learn from Him. It is when we become humble—teachable—and open ourselves to learning from him that our lives are transformed.

You want to change the world? Learn from the One who did.

Bill Herried is lead pastor at CenterPoint Christian Fellowship in Tacoma, Washington. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, and Master of Divinity from Corban University in Salem, Oregon. He is married to the most extraordinary woman on the planet. Together they have 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren, and he loves a good biryani. Bill invites you to learn more on Your Daily Encouragement

Image by Brian Merrill from Pixabay