“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.”
(NIV)

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The One who gives us rest

Somewhere deep in my soul, I’m exhausted.

I am weary and burdened because there is something wrong. At my core, there is no peace. There is no rest.

The burden I carry is my own sin - there is something broken.

Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light - the implication being that my current yoke doesn’t fit me right and my current burden is too heavy. I agree.

But how does He offer me rest?

For centuries the Jewish people - under God’s direction - regularly sacrificed animals to cover their sin. They couldn’t stop, because as the writer of Hebrews says:

“But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

Like new layers of paint on an old stain, even our best sacrifices can only cover the problem.

But when John saw Jesus by the river, he exclaimed:
“Behold! The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

And we remember how God spoke through the prophet Isaiah:
“‘Come now, and let us reason together,’
Says the Lord,
‘Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.‘”

Jesus does what no other sacrifice could ever do - He makes me new.

I often forget and have the pleasure of remembering that there is no longer anything wrong with me. Jesus removed the stain from my soul.

As Paul writes:
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

And in the beautiful words of Isaiah:
“He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed”

Not everyone is aware of the stain on their soul. Only God can reveal this to us.

I didn’t grow up in church, and never heard preaching about sin. Yet I always knew something was wrong inside me.

If you feel the same - Jesus’ words are for you too.