Daily Devotional

One of the great illusions of our day is that hurrying will buy us more time.  But it just makes us busier.  I read recently that a third of all working adults get less than 6 hours of sleep each night and walk around in a state of perpetual sleep deprivation.

One author referred to this as hurry sickness: "a continuous struggle and unremitting attempt to accomplish or achieve more and more things or participate in more and more events in less and less time."

I find it amazing that Jesus was often busy, but he was never hurried.  Being busy is an outward condition that can be healthy and productive, but being hurried is a sickness of the soul.

If you feel tired, heavy-hearted, worn-down, run-down, over-worked, over-burdened, or overwhelmed by the pressures and responsibilities of your daily life, then I have some good news for you.  Jesus is willing to give you rest for your soul.

But how do you receive it?  The answer is by swapping yokes.

Charles Spurgeon explains: “The difficulty comes when it is not His yoke that we take, but one made by our self-will. Your cares, poor anxious one, are not Christ’s yoke! They are a heavy yoke that is all of your own making. If we bear no burdens but His burdens, and do no service but His service, then we shall find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.”

Listen to this wonderful insight from Henry Drummond: “Did you ever stop to ask what a yoke is really for? Is it to be a burden to the animal which wears it? It is just the opposite. It is to make its burden light. Attached to the oxen in any other way than by a yoke, the plow would be intolerable. Worked by means of a yoke, it is light. A yoke is not an instrument of torture; it is an instrument of mercy. It is not a malicious contrivance for making work hard; it is a gentle device to make hard labor light. It is not meant to give pain, but to save pain. And yet men speak of the yoke of Christ as if it were a slavery, and look upon those who wear it as objects of compassion. Christ’s yoke is simply His secret for the alleviation of human life, His prescription for the best and happiest method of living.”

The question I want to ask you today is: “Which yoke are you carrying?  The one Jesus offers, or the one you fabricated for yourself?”

If your soul is tired and weary, it probably means you’re carrying an unnecessary burden.  You’re trying to live the Christian life in your own strength.  And trying harder will only make things worse.

The secret of rest is learning to rely on Jesus in everything and let him do the heavy lifting in your life.  Your job is simply to trust him and stay close by his side.

New International Version (NIV)
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