Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV) 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I love to lift weights. I mean I LOVE to lift weights. I got hooked on the sport of weightlifting back in my preteen years. I would watch my older brothers lift weights using the barbell and bench we had in our backyard. It started subtly. Just a little bit here and there. Then High School came around, and I hit that wonderful time in every young man’s life, puberty. Suddenly I blew up in size and strength and just wanted to do SOMETHING.
I tried football and didn’t get far. I really didn’t like the idea of hitting people (ironic since I later got into MMA in my early 20s for a short spell.) However, one aspect of being on the football team that I LOVED was the weight room. I would be in there twice a day almost every day. There was just something about it that “clicked.”
After High School I joined a local gym and got connected with a few other young men who were into the sport of Power Lifting. Let me tell you all, this was my “thing.” I adored this sport. The whole point every single day was to get under a slightly heavier load than the day before and try to bear that weight. Bear the burden and push through!
I was “The Leg Guy” in our gym. I always had a personal record goal of pushing 1300lbs up on the incline leg press. I was already able to break into the 1000lb range, and figured, “What the heck! Let’s see if I can do it!” So one day I warmed up a little bit, had my friends help me load the plates up, popped into the seat and readied myself.
Let me take a moment to tell you something. I don’t know what was worse, the pain of immediately having my legs folded up against my chest, or the panic of thinking my legs were broken. Praise God they weren’t.
My friends had to quickly pull plate after plate off of the load for what seemed like a small eternity. Once it got to the comfortable range again I was able to push it back up and lock it in. I didn’t even try this lift again for months.
In the scripture above from Matthew, Jesus tells us of a weight upon the “heavy laden.” A weight that He will grant respite from. He makes a great and encouraging promise to those who put their faith in Him. His yoke is light. Our sin however, is not a light yoke. Our carnal flesh produces in us a weight we are unable to lift on our own. Even with help from other people in our life, the pain that can be caused from our failures and imperfections will leave us stricken, crushed, and unable to lift the weight totally. Sure, I had friends who took the plates off, but that is after they tried to pull up on the plate while I was also pushing with my legs. Guess what…it didn’t move.
This is why the promise of the yoke of Christ is such a radiant and beautiful one. Unlike flawed man, Christ IS able to lift the weight. He IS able to prevent you from being destroyed by the weight of your sin. He IS able to grant you a new life, an eternal life, that is weightless in the light of eternity. Not only is He simply able to, He promises us He WILL lift the weight.
Our lives in this fallen world are filled to the brim with struggle, pain, heartache, loss, fear, and strain. It is exhausting! Weary traveler….lay it all at His throne. Accept the truth of who He is, what He did, and turn away from your life that laid such a burden on you…..and He will lift this weight from you.
SOLI DEO GLORIA!!!!
