Come to Me

Last fall my mom and I took a trip to historic Charleston, South Carolina. We visited old plantations and slave markets, walked along the water, took boat tours and walking tours, and soaked in the history and culture of that fascinating city that stands as a memorial to some of the best and worst of American history.

Our favorite activity was a horse-drawn carriage tour through the historic downtown. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and the day couldn’t have been more beautiful. The entire tour was fabulous.

About halfway through the journey we hit a bump in the road and one of the tires came off the carriage. This spooked Susie May*, one of the two horses pulling our carriage, and for the rest of the trip she seemed determined to get back to the stable as quickly as possible. Whereas before the tire came off the two horses had been working together to pull the carriage, now Susie May was doing all the heavy lifting. The other horse, affectionately called Charlie, continued to walk his course, but as our guide pointed out, he really wasn’t carrying any of the load. His yoke was easy and his burden was light.

This is the same image that Jesus gave when he called people to follow him, saying, “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.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

Over the years many friends have expressed confusion and uncertainty over this passage.

“Following Jesus isn’t easy,” many have protested. “How can taking up our cross and laying down our life possibly be described as light?”

They are right, of course. Following Jesus isn’t easy. That’s why he warned people to count the cost before committing to follow him (Luke 14:28-33). The path is narrow and rugged. Much needs to be left behind in order to make this journey. Yet through it all, Jesus lightens our load by willingly carrying our burdens. The course itself is demanding and arduous, but all the extra weight that we used to carry on the wide and easy path can be cast on Jesus. We need only remain yoked to him and keep on walking the course laid out for us.

The heaviest and primary burden that Jesus seems to have in mind here is the burden to earn God’s approval. God is perfect, and as such perfection is required of anyone who would stand in his presence. Only one human being has ever been able to live up to that standard, and here he offers to let us partake in his accomplishment. Once we are yoked to Jesus, his sinless life is credited to us. Our sinful life has been laid on him and paid for with his life. We are eternally free from a works-based merit system. We are unconditionally accepted, and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:31-39)!

If that doesn’t take a huge weight off and excite you beyond anything you’ve ever experienced, you may need to ask God to show you just how remarkable and beautiful that is! With our greatest problem taken care of once and for all and an eternity of pure happiness ahead of us, even the toughest path that this life can produce seems possible.

But it gets better. The concern for our eternal destiny is not the only burden we can surrender to Jesus. As sons and daughters of the King headed for glory, we need not concern ourselves with people-pleasing, fear of failure, worries about what tomorrow holds, regret over past decisions, self-protection, or even fear of death. These are the concerns of a temporary world that does not know the One who holds the future in his hands.

Should a princess fret over whether she is approved of by a drunkard off the street? Should the son who has inherited the whole kingdom worry himself sick over whether he has saved enough for the future? Should the one whose life has been irreversibly imbued with eternal meaning, purpose, and value ever be concerned with threats of emptiness, boredom, or futility? When the greatest threat on earth – that of death itself – promises to remove us from this tent of weakness and malady and usher us into the presence of our Beloved who fulfills every need and desire and longing of our heart, is there any sense in fearing for our lives?

The cares of this world are many, but for the one who is yoked to Jesus they have no ultimate power. Sure, we can strive after the approval of others even though their opinions say nothing of who we are. We can allow anxiety about the future to steal our joy although our happy future is irrevocably guaranteed. We can fear death though death has no stronghold over us. But what sense does that make?

When we accept the invitation to yoke ourselves to Jesus and let him pull the carriage, the path he leads us down is rocky and severe; it is filled with suffering. But because we know the hardships are temporary and the mission will succeed, it is also true that our yoke is easy and our burden is light. We have work to do, but very little to worry about. We have a tough path to walk, but a very light load to carry along that path. We must continue to put one foot in front of the other, but every step is one step closer to glory. And no matter what we encounter along the way, Jesus is with us, ensuring that every moment is filled purpose and that nothing in all creation can ever prevent us from arriving safely to our destination.  

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

~Romans 8:38-39

*Names have been changed in order to protect the identity and privacy of the horses😊