Lighten Your Load.
By Ian Biss 4/20/01
Intro...
Illustration of woman on phone. The telephone rings, and the young mother answers. "Honey, it’s mom. I called because I know that you’re busy with the three children, and I want to give you some help. I’m going to stop by to clean the house, take care of the baby, and prepare dinner for when the boys get home from school.
I want you to get ready to go to my beautician, I paid her already, she is going to give you "the works," your appointment is at 1:00.
Give George a call at the office and tell him that you will meet him at Chez Jays for dinner, on me..."
The young mother suddenly interrupts and asks "George, who is George?"
"Your husband." says the caller.
"My husbands name is Fred." She replies.
"Is this 555-3212?"
"No this is 555-2212"
"I’m sorry I have the wrong number." says the now embarrassed caller.
After a pause, the young mother sheepishly asks, "Does this mean that you’re not coming over?"
Do you feel as though you could use a phone call like that? Do you feel that way? Maybe pressure from work, or a recent event in your life has you wishing someone would just come and take care things for you so that you can have a little rest.
If you feel that way, then I have good news for you, because God wants to do just that for you! Yes He does, He wants to give you a break.
I know that sounds hard to believe, but it’s true, Jesus wants you to relax. Believe it and read it for yourself.
Read Text - Matthew 11:28-30
In this passage, Jesus is sharing with his disciples what He desires for His children more than anything else. He is saying that He wants to take care of them.
Do you know what else He is saying? He wants to take care of you too!
Think about that a moment, our great and awesome and powerful God wants to take care of you. (Pause for effect)
Jesus wants to lighten your load, and He will take upon Himself all of your cares if you will take a few simple steps.
I. Come to Me. (Vs. 28)
Exposition
In this verse Jesus is sharing the first step we all must take in order to receive what God really has to offer us, we must come to Christ.
Jesus Christ came to save you, he came that you might obtain eternal life and the only implication he makes in order for you to receive eternal life is that you believe in him, and if that were all he is offering you, it would be enough. Yet, in these verses you see that he is offering you eternal life yes, and so much more. He is offering to take care of you and showing his desire to see you through the thick and thin of life. When you are weary and burdened, come to him and he will give you the rest you truly need!
Application
Illustration
Edison’s example: It is said that it took Thomas Edison 10,000 tries before he finally was successful in inventing the lightbulb. When questioned about why he never became discouraged, his answer was,"I did not fail in all of those attempts rather, I discovered 9,999 ways not to invent the lightbulb."
There are so many ways not to do something yet, isn’t that what you so often find yourself doing? For instance, ladies when the sink is clogged, what is the first thing you all do? Get a plunger? NO! Get the Drain-O? NO! You call the man of the house. You all know that you’re only asking for more problems yet, at the first sign of trouble around the house what is your first instinct? It goes something like this. HONEEEY!
Sadly, many of you, when you find yourselves in need of spiritual help go to the psychic hotline. When you find yourself in need of emotional help seek the advise of a newspaper psychologist. These people may truly wish to help, but they don’t love you, they will never die for you, they will never lighten your load as only Jesus Christ can and will if only you will come to him.
Something that is even more disheartening is the fact that so many people, when they find themselves in spiritual or emotional need turn to drugs or alcohol or some other dead end.
Yes, if the solution to your problem doesn’t begin at the cross, then friend, you will only have more problems that need solved!
Life begins at 40? Maybe. Eternal life begins at the cross! Friends, there is only one place you can go in order to receive life more abundant; the true person, our God and savior and lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know him? Have you ever gone to him, do that, now before it’s too late! Come to him and you will find rest for your soul! Let Jesus lighten your load.
II. Take his yoke upon you. (Vs. 29 & 30)
Exposition
Jesus says take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. A yoke is a heavy ring that is put around the neck of animals that are to be used to pull something (wagon, plow, sleigh, etc... ) It is very heavy, usually made from a combination of wood, metal, and leather. Jesus wants to exchange our yoke for his yoke, he wants to give you his light yoke to bear while he bears your heavy yoke.
Application
If you have never trusted Jesus as your savior, you are bearing a weight that is heavier than all others, that weight is known as sin. Sin is what keeps you from coming to Jesus, sin is what is ruining your life, sin makes you feel hopeless and lost, it makes your heart and your life feel so, so heavy.
Jesus said in Luke 19:10, that "the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost." He came to find you, he came so that he might bear your burden, your sin, on the cross, he came that he may lighten your load.
Illustration
One of the classic films of 1987 was The Mission. In it, a soldier, Captain Mendoza, kills his brother in a feud over a woman they both love. Afterward, desperately depressed and consumed by remorse, he feels that the only way to get rid of his burden of guilt and sin is to perform some sort of penance. So he ties a huge net to his back, fills it with boulders, and sets himself to climb a high mountain.
In the company of a priest and some others, he travels over rocks, swamps and thick brush, across rivers and through forests. You see him, cut, bruised and bleeding, a broken figure, crawling up the mountainside, the huge weight dragging behind him. From time to time, the others in the group urge him to let go of the burden. "You don’t have to carry it anymore," they say. But he cannot leave it.
Eventually, reaching the top of the mountain, he collapses, exhausted. And then a little boy comes up to him----- and cuts the net from him. As the net and rocks cascade down the mountainside, Mendoza is filled with a feeling of total release; his burden is gone and he knows he has been forgiven.
When you come to Jesus, when you take his yoke upon you and he takes your yoke upon himself, he releases you from whatever is weighing you down; and he not only removes your burden, but he takes it upon himself to resolve your burdens for you, he is the burden bearer of all of God’s children.
All the while, you are freed from your sin, and you receive the yoke of Christ—which means simply that you no longer have any burden to bear because Jesus is sinless, and there is no weight, there is no burden, where there is no sin.
Whatever burden you are carrying today, you don’t have to carry it anymore, let Jesus cut that burden that is so heavy, let him cut it away. If you will only come to him he will release you from all that heaviness.
He will lighten your load.
III. Learn from Him. (vs. 29)
Exposition
Jesus wants his people to know him, he wants us to be close to him, so he encourages us to learn from him. Jesus is sharing that in order for us to know and to grow in him, we must learn from him. He wants us to know everything there is to know about him, and to become more like him as a result. He says that he is gentle and humble in heart, and by learning from him you will find rest for your souls.
T.S.- How do I learn, Ian?
Application
Romans 10:17, says that "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
Read the bible, go to church, host a bible study in your home, and pray, pray, pray, every waking moment pray, and you will become wiser, stronger, and closer to Jesus with every effort.
God has given his word to us to teach us about himself, strengthen us, and to lighten our load. And for you to truly glean the wisdom from God’s word, you must read it, study it and put it to practice in your life. The more you do, the more you will find rest for your soul. A life in Christ is much more than a one time event.
Illustration
In the world of academics there is a specialty known as "cramming." It is the practice of procrastinating on studies until the last possible moment. When that day of reckoning arrives, the coffee pot is stoked and we strap ourselves to the desk for an all-night journey with our books. Cramming is a phenomenon unknown to the agricultural world. Farmers don’t cram. They can’t delay planting crops in the spring, then hit the ground really hard in the fall. If a harvest is expected in the fall, then scheduled procedures must take place throughout the year. Maybe that is why Jesus used so many agricultural illustrations. Spiritual growth doesn’t come like grades that are salvaged by intensive periods of last-minute cramming. Christ-likeness comes from a lifetime spent with the Savior, not a night of cramming for sainthood.
* The Seven Habits Report, Fall 1991, p. 5
Learn from Jesus, the more you learn the more he will lighten your load.
Conclusion
When someone’s life is lived in Christ, that person will be wise to pray, listen, and read.
Pray to God: When life is filled with trials, or when it isn’t, pray and He will lighten your load.
Listen to God: When you feel God is whispering in your ear, listen to him, and he will lighten your load.
Read about God: God desires to lighten your load, and the more you read his word, the more he will increase your wisdom, and because you will be wiser, he will lighten your load.
Come to Jesus, take his yoke upon you, and learn from him, then you will find rest for your souls.
