Come to Me...Jesus said.

“Come to Me”

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
“Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
Come to me…The invitation is to come to him. Why him?
He offers the invitation as a penniless rabbi in an oppressed nation. He has no political office, no connections with the authorities in Rome. He hasn’t written a best-seller or earned a diploma.
Yet, he dares to look into the leathery faces of farmers and tired faces of housewives and offer rest. He looks into the disillusioned eyes of a preacher or two from Jerusalem. He gazes into the cynical stare of a banker and the hungry eyes of a bartender and makes this paradoxical promise: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:29).
The people came. They came out of the cul-de-sacs and office complexes of their day. They brought him the burdens of their existence, and he gave them not religion, not doctrine, not systems, but rest.

How do you lay burdens on him? The burdens still play out here on earth and we still feel the sting of them.
I want to be burden free. But in 20 + years I just passed it off as I was at fault when the burdens didnt go away... Do you understand what I mean?

Sometimes I too feel like my burdens are still upon me. I try to just let go and give my problems to God but then sometimes things just really get to me and I feel like nothing will make it all go away or even be better.
Some things I am able to just give up to God but some things, you know it's just hard.
I pray for inner peace I pray for my suffering to be eased and them I am torn between feeling the pain, feeling guilt for feeling the pain and feeling totally hopeless and weighed down with my pain.

Metalvikng wrote:

How do you lay burdens on him? The burdens still play out here on earth and we still feel the sting of them.
I want to be burden free. But in 20 + years I just passed it off as I was at fault when the burdens didnt go away... Do you understand what I mean?

I know what you mean, brother, but I've never met anyone that is burden free and I don't think it's possible to be burden free. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if anyone is striving for that then they are striving in vain.

What Jesus is assuming in this passage is that he wants us to turn over our problems to him (because he knows that everyone has them), not for us to try and give rid of them ourselves. Our burdens, our cares, our problems-we always have them.

You, me, no one can ever be burden free. What God wants from us is that when they do sting, for us to go to him with that for comfort, guidance, support, encouragement and strength. I get stung quite often myself. I know exactly what you mean.

Gwalchmai wrote:

Metalvikng wrote:

How do you lay burdens on him? The burdens still play out here on earth and we still feel the sting of them.
I want to be burden free. But in 20 + years I just passed it off as I was at fault when the burdens didnt go away... Do you understand what I mean?

I know what you mean, brother, but I've never met anyone that is burden free and I don't think it's possible to be burden free. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if anyone is striving for that then they are striving in vain.

What Jesus is assuming in this passage is that he wants us to turn over our problems to him (because he knows that everyone has them), not for us to try and give rid of them ourselves. Our burdens, our cares, our problems-we always have them.

You, me, no one can ever be burden free. What God wants from us is that when they do sting, for us to go to him with that for comfort, guidance, support, encouragement and strength. I get stung quite often myself. I know exactly what you mean.

very well put.

i do think, however.
that when Jesus said to lay your burdens on him he meant more, perhaps, that he will give you the strength and fortitude to cope with, and perservere through life's difficulties.

just a thought.

That is true, the rest of the passage quotes Jesus as saying that he gives us rest-not ourselves.

jesus never said he would make us burdenless. he said he would give us a burden that is light and a yolk that is easy.