Picture: His Yoke Is Easy and His Burden Light 3TC 209.1
This chapter is based on Matthew 11:28-30.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The Savior left none to feel shut out from His care and love. He looked on the distressed and heart-burdened, those whose hopes were crushed and who were trying to satisfy the longing of the soul with earthly joys, and He invited all to find rest in Him. 3TC 209.2
Tenderly He told the toiling people, “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.” 3TC 209.3
In these words, Christ is speaking to every human being. Whether they know it or not, all are weighed down with burdens that only Christ can remove. The heaviest burden is the burden of sin. If we were left to bear this, it would crush us. But the Sinless One has taken our place. “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. He has carried the burden of our guilt. The burden of care and sorrow He will also bear. 3TC 210.1
The Elder Brother of the human race is by the eternal throne. He knows by experience the weaknesses of humanity, our wants, and the strength of our temptations, for He was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Are you tempted? He will deliver. Are you weak? He will strengthen. Are you ignorant? He will enlighten. Are you wounded? He will heal. “He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3. 3TC 210.2
Whatever your anxieties and trials, present your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. He will open the way for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest you will find in placing them on the Burden Bearer. 3TC 210.3
The rest that Christ offers depends on conditions, but the Bible plainly tells us what they are. Anyone can fulfill them. 3TC 210.4
“Take My yoke upon you.” The yoke is an instrument of service. Cattle are yoked for labor, and the yoke is essential for them to work effectively. By this illustration, Jesus teaches that we are called to service. We are to take His yoke upon us. 3TC 210.5
The yoke is the law of God, in the new covenant written in the heart. It binds the human worker to the will of God. If we were left to go just where our will would lead us, we would fall into Satan’s ranks. So God confines us to His will. 3TC 210.6
Christ Himself has worn the yoke of service in humanity. He said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” John 6:38. Love for God, zeal for His glory, and love for fallen humanity brought Jesus to earth. This was the controlling power of His life. This principle He asks us to adopt. 3TC 210.7
Many whose hearts are aching under a load of care have chosen the world’s service, accepted its perplexities, adopted its customs. Because of this, their life has become a burden. To gratify worldly desires, they injure the conscience and bring an additional burden of remorse on themselves. Our Lord wants them to lay aside this yoke of bondage. He says, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” He calls them to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Worry is blind and cannot see the future, but in every difficulty, Jesus has His way prepared to bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing. Those who make serving and honoring God their main goal will find perplexities vanish and a plain path before their feet. 3TC 211.1
“Learn from Me,” says Jesus, “for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest.” We are to enter the school of Christ and learn from Him. Redemption is the process that trains a person for heaven. This training means being freed from ideas, habits, and practices we have learned in the school of the prince of darkness. 3TC 211.2
In the heart of Christ, there was perfect peace. He was never elated by applause nor dejected by criticism or disappointment. Amid opposition and cruel treatment, He was still of good courage. But many of His followers have anxious, troubled hearts, because they are afraid to trust God. They fear the consequences of complete surrender to Him. But unless they make this surrender, they cannot find peace. 3TC 211.3
When we are born from above, we will have the same mind in us that was in Jesus. Then we will not be seeking the highest place. We will want to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from Him. We will understand that the value of our work is in proportion to how much of the Holy Spirit we have received. Trust in God brings holier qualities of mind, so that in patience we may possess our souls. 3TC 211.4
The yoke is placed on the oxen to help them in pulling the load, to lighten the burden. This is also true with the yoke of Christ. When our will is swallowed up in the will of God, we will find life’s burden light. Whoever walks in the path of God’s commandments walks with Christ, and in His love the heart finds its rest. When Moses prayed, “Show me now Your way, that I may know You,” the Lord answered, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:13, 14. 3TC 211.5
Those who take Christ at His word and surrender their lives to His plans will find peace. Nothing the world does can make them sad when Jesus makes them glad by His presence. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3. 3TC 212.1
Our lives may seem tangled, but as we submit to the wise Master Worker, He will bring out the pattern of life and character that will be to His own glory. And this life that expresses the glory—the character—of Christ will be received into the Paradise of God. 3TC 212.2
As we enter into rest through Jesus, heaven begins here. We respond to His invitation, “Come, learn from Me,” and so we begin the life eternal. Heaven is a constant approaching to God through Christ. The more we know of God, the more intense our happiness will be. As we walk with Jesus in this life, we may be filled with His love, satisfied with His presence. All that human nature can bear, we may receive here. 3TC 212.3
