Coming to Christ to Find Rest for Our Soul and Taking His Yoke Upon Us

The Lord’s call in Matt. 11:28-30 resounds throughout the ages, Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

He calls all those who toil (which means everyone today is qualified and called) and who are burdened (all men are burdened). When we come to the Lord, we will find real rest for our souls – rest with satisfaction.

When we come to Christ as the reality of the Sabbath, our soul is at rest and we are satisfied. In this rest we can learn from Him, since He set up a pattern for us to follow (1 Pet. 2:21).

We learn from Christ by being in Christ and resting in Christ – we learn to toil for God’s economy, to take the yoke of God’s economy.

Everything in God’s economy is not a heavy burden but an enjoyment when we first rest in Christ and are one with Him.

Lord, bring us further into rest today. Save us from our toiling and struggling and bring us fully into the real rest with satisfaction found in You. Lord, we want to join You in Your toiling for God’s economy by entering into Your rest today and by being one with You in Your working for God.

Finding Rest for Our Soul

Where can we find rest for our soul? We may think that we just need to go to bed and sleep, and the next day we will be rested in our soul. But many times we have sleepless nights because our soul is not at rest.

We toil every day, whether under some religious regulation or for our career, our sustenance, our family, our health, etc. Life on earth is full of toiling and full of burdens. The more you grow in the human life, the more burdens you have and the more you toil.

The Lord Jesus sees that we all toil and are so heavily burdened, and He calls us to Himself to give us rest for our souls. Apart from the Lord we cannot find real rest for our soul.

When we come to Christ, we will find perfect peace and full satisfaction for our soul. He as our Shepherd knows how to give peace to our soul and to guard our heart in Christ Jesus from any anxiety and care (Phil. 4:7).

Taking the Lord’s Yoke

The Lord doesn’t just want to “give us rest that we may just relax and enjoy” – He wants to give us rest that we may take His yoke (which is light) and bear His burden (which is easy) for the accomplishing of God’s will, God’s economy.

When we come to the Lord, we receive rest for our souls and we also take His yoke upon us – this yoke is different from any earthly yoke, since it is easy, fit for use, good and kind, mild and gentle, easy and pleasant. God’s will for us is not hard, harsh, sharp, or bitter.

Everything in God’s economy is not a heavy burden or a hard toiling but it is an enjoyment, since we do everything one with the Lord by resting in Him. We need to learn from Christ to submit ourselves to God and find our satisfaction only in God.

If we try to find satisfaction in anything in this world, we will toil and be burdened, with no rest in our soul. But the Lord Jesus, our pattern, was submissive to God and He was satisfied with the Father and His will.

Don’t be scared of “God’s yoke” – just come to Christ, enjoy Him, love Him, and you will inwardly submit to God and you will take His yoke upon you, learning from Christ in a subjective way.

Learning from Christ

How do we learn from Christ? How do we copy the Lord, following in His steps and living out His model? It is by taking God’s will as our yoke and by toiling for God’s economy according to Christ’s model (see Matt. 11:29; 1 Pet. 2:21).

We don’t need to imitate Christ outwardly, and we don’t need a reminder of, “What Would Jesus Do”.

Christ is a living Person in our spirit, and we need to learn from Him inwardly by opening to Him, enjoying Him, experiencing Him, and being one with Him. In this organic union, in our coming to Christ daily, we will take His yoke and we will toil for God’s economy.

Remember the principle of the Sabbath: man was made by God to REST first and then WORK together with God. We first need to come to Christ, find rest, enjoy Him, and then take His yoke upon us and toil for God’s economy. This is such an experiential matter!

The yoke of Jesus will protect us and will keep us following Christ in His footsteps.

Rest and Yoke seem opposite, but they go together: we come to the Lord and REST, and then we take His YOKE upon us, learning from Him, toiling for God’s economy, while at the same time resting inwardly and enjoying God as our permanent supply…

Lord, keep us coming to You. Save us from toiling for the world, and save us from toiling for You without resting in You. We want to come to You to find rest for our soul. Lord, may Your will be done in our life. We choose Your will – we want to take Your yoke as we rest in You. May we be those who toil for God’s economy by learning from Christ, our pattern. Lord Jesus, we love You!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from portions in, The God-Man living (by Witness Lee, msgs. 12-13), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Unique Work in the Lord’s Recovery, week 6 (entitled, Keeping the Principle of the Sabbath in Relation to the Work of Building).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # It is well with my soul! / It is well, it is well with my soul!
  # Every moment, every member, / Girded, waiting Thy command; / Underneath the yoke to labor / Or be laid aside as planned.
  # Oh, lightest burden, sweetest yoke; / It lifts, it bears my happy soul, / It giveth wings to this poor heart; / My freedom is Thy grand control.
• Pictures credit: Matt. 11:28, and Matt. 11:28-30.