“Come to Me, all who labour 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 your will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matt 11:28-30).

One day a man went by to see a farmer who was plowing his field with a team of oxen. The man noticed that one of the animals was seemingly a little bigger than the other so he asked him about it.

The response from the farmer was very interesting. He said that the big animal was an older animal that was well trained and the smaller one was a young animal that was new to the yoke.

“Well you see it’s like this… That older ox is the best ox that I have ever had; he knows his way around the field. The reason I put the younger one with him is so the older, more knowledgeable ox could teach him how to plow. If I never put them together the younger one would never learn. By himself the younger ox would pull himself to death, but together he learns to cooperate with and rest in the strength of the older ox.”

Does your life feel like the ox that’s pulling himself to death?

Christ will give us rest from:

– struggling to live up to others’ or our own high expectations.

– busying ourselves unnecessarily.

– trying to prove our worth.

Rest comes from:

– responding to Jesus’ invitation: Come to Me.

– serve with Him: Take My yoke.

– live like Him: Learn from Me.

Jesus does not promise us a comfortable and indulgent life.  But when we take on His yoke, He promises to help us and give us strength to deal with many life’s challenges.

Success in life comes from faithfully doing the work He entrusted to us.

Rest in Him.