REST FOR YOUR SOULS

Come to Me, all 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. – Matthew 11:28-29

In the above passage, Jesus issues a call to sincere people who are burdened down with religious duty. He is speaking to people who are weary of trying to fulfill the multitude of miniscule religious rules and regulations that have been imposed on them.

You see, the rabbis had identified 613 commands in the Torah; 365 prohibitions and 248 positive commands. The Pharisees of Jesus day believed that if all Israel kept all 613 commandments for just one day, there would be a great shift and the Messiah would come and restore the kingdom to Israel.

The Pharisees, therefore, called upon the Israelites to take upon themselves “the yoke of the law.” This was a commitment to do their level best to keep all 613 commandments. The Pharisees were very zealous in their efforts to get people to make this commitment. Jesus referred to this in Matthew 23:14 when He said,

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Jesus’ response was to call the people away from man-made religious traditions into a personal, committed relationship with Himself. Come to Me, He invited the multitudes. Take My yoke upon you, He said, and learn from Me.

In being yoked together with Jesus in such a committed relationship, the promise is, you will find rest for your souls. The Greek literally reads, I will rest you. In other words, He will actively rest you, even as a mother rocks and actively “rests” her infant child.

There is rest for your soul today. Yoke up with Jesus. Do you hear Him calling?

Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt is an author, historian and Bible teacher with a vision to see America reconnect with its Christian heritage as a nation birthed in prayer and spiritual awakening.  Check out the numerous books he has written on this topic including America's Revival Heritage and 1726: The Year that Defined America.  He and his wife, Dr. Susan Hyatt, have been in ministry together for 50 years and you can check out their websites at http://eddiehyatt.com and http://godswordtowomen.org.