His Yoke is Easy, His Burden is Light


“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 
(Matthew 11:30)

As a brand-new believer, I began to think to myself, it’s too hard to be a Christian. None of my old friends could understand why I was acting so differently. I didn’t really understand it myself. The things I liked to do my whole adult life, suddenly lost interest to me. At that time, all I wanted to do was read the Bible and other Christian materials. I wanted to find out as much as I could, as fast as I could about my new beliefs.
Before too long, I was burdened to get everyone to know Jesus the way I did. I thought if I tried to keep one foot in the world with my old friends and the other in the church, I could eventually lead my lost friends to Christ. I only made it extremely hard on myself to be a believer. I always had to be on guard as to which world I was in. That was a very heavy load to carry around. It was easy to behave righteously when I was in church, but I could backslide to my old self pretty easily when I wasn’t.
I finally realized I wasn’t going to lead anyone to Christ if I was acting just as sinful as they were. In fact, they were doing a better job leading me away from Christ than I was lead them to him. The only way I could show the love of Jesus to my old friends was to follow his example. Jesus ate with sinners, but he did not sin, so I could spend time with my old friends but not do the things they were doing. Even though most of them have not turned to Christ, that’s not my burden any longer. I can’t save them. All I can do is plant the seed of love and pray the Holy Spirit changes their hearts and make that seed grow.
With all the hoops I had to jump through to be accepted by some of my worldly friends, it was actually much harder to be a non-believer. I am much more easily accepted by Christians. When compared to the guilt I felt from my sinful behavior, his burden is light. His yoke for me is to carry the gospel to everyone. I will always sow the seeds of the truth of salvation and the hope for eternity. There are only two things Jesus requires of me. I must love God with all my heart, soul and mind; and love everyone as I love myself.




Dear Lord, you have given us so much. You give us the breath of life. You give us the will to live. You give us the free will to choose to submit to you or to reject you. And finally, you gave us a Savior to pay the price for our rebellion. When we finally end that rebellion and turn to Jesus, it sometimes feels like we’ve added a new burden. Help us to realize that the burden we feel is of our own creation, not yours. We don’t have to carry the burden of whether or not our old friends get saved. That’s between them and Jesus. Father don’t let us be drawn back into the dark pit you have plucked us out of, just so we can hold on to old friends. Give us the strength to walk away if they manage to influence us to return to our old bad habits. With the power of Christ, who strengthens us, we can resist the old temptations and carry the yoke of the gospel to anyone you place in front of us. Give us a spirit of love for our fellowman, that our only goal should be to seek and save the lost. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
Location: Kendall, NY 14476, USA

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