"Come To Me, You Who Are Weary"

Having said the negative, Jesus now gave the positive, beginning with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to His Father

“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do." (Matthew 11:25-26)

Those who come with a childlike heart, open, trusting and humble, are the ones who are going to understand and receive the gospel, rather than those who have a sense of self importance, who delight in their own mental abilities, and mistake their knowledge for wisdom.

Jesus explained God’s plan of revelation:

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Matthew 11:27)

Only Jesus can show the way to the Father.

Jesus saw people burdened with trying to please God,
...getting right with God,
......using all the methods that the Pharisees were insisting on.
.........It was a great load of rules, and they were weary with trying,
............sensing, deep down, that none of it was working...

Jesus offered rest, freedom from trying and never succeeding.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Think about the yoke as what rabbis called their way of understanding and living by scripture, which they expected all their disciples to take on themselves.

The Pharisees' yoke was heavy. It made people bone weary with trying to labor under it.

Jesus’ yoke is light, it’s freeing, it’s enabling so that your work becomes joy. Jesus’ yoke fits perfectly because we are designed to wear His yoke, and His yoke is designed for us.

Jesus gives wisdom and rest to those who come to Him

Following Jesus brings relief from sin’s burdens. Those who follow Jesus find that Jesus’ yoke brings equilibrium and Jesus’ power.

* In what ways can you say that you have taken on Jesus' yoke?

* An encounter with Jesus demands a response – what’s yours?

* Do you believe in Him Have you said yes to Him?

* Will you serve Him, and co-labor with Him in the harvest?

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