This chapter contains Jesus’ discussion with John the Baptist’s disciples, a warning to unrepentant cities, and promise of rest / understanding.
“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children… All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ ” (v25-30 abr)
There are two main truths in this section: not all will understand and accept Jesus and the Father, and those who do accept Him will have less burdensome lives than those who don’t. The first truth is pretty obvious in today’s world – many have not (yet) accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior.
The second truth is harder for us to understand, because most of us probably experience weariness and burnout as a result of ‘following’ Jesus. Why is this? I suggest we’re not following His example as closely as we could be.
As we grow closer to Jesus, and gain more understanding of God’s word, we begin to learn that the quality of our service is far more important than the quantity. For example, if we’re on as many mission teams as possible, we’ll be stretched too thin, become exhausted, and be ineffective. Trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way by experiencing burnout multiple times in my faith walk.
God would prefer we served Him in one single focused effort at a time, fully utilizing the gifts and abilities He has given us, and making a larger targeted impact for the Kingdom. Jesus only gave twelve people His deepest attention and stuck to a few square kilometers of the earth – He could have done ‘more’, yet, that ‘small’ outreach was enough for Him to make a major Kingdom-building impact with ripples into eternity.
I encourage us to ‘follow Him’ – let’s do one or two things at a time very well, because that is more impactful and less tiring than ineffectively working on multiple things at once. We will feel less burdened, less stressed, more rested, and God will be more honored / glorified. We literally can’t ‘do it all’ – yet, we can do a few things very well.
Father God, our source of wisdom and guidance, You lead us on the paths of righteousness. May we learn to fully embrace who You created us to be. You provide us with everything we need – rest, a simple life, ample resources, and clear instruction. All You ask of us is to follow Jesus’ example and Your leading. Please help us to do this well, and glorify You in just a few focused ways to make a large impact in Your Kingdom. We praise, honor and glorify You, for You are worthy of our devotion, from this day forward, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training