Wednesday 23rd
Matthew 11:28-30
NIV – ‘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.’
ESV – ‘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 you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Beautiful words of Jesus
E. E. Hewitt – RH 301
The hymnal composers have only applied verse 28 to this hymn, but I have also included verses 29-30 as they are all a part of one sentence, and as the hymn writer says, what ‘beautiful words of Jesus, spoken so long ago’ and yet so applicable and relevant for us today.
If we were to go through the gospel’s we would see the ‘beautiful words of Jesus’ as he spoke time and again to those who he came into daily contact with. On this occasion during his ‘sermon on the mount’ he speaks words that are not only beautiful words, but words that speak of his bountiful care to all who are willing to come to him and to call on him. He comes to welcome those who are weary, those who are burdened, he comes to call those who are tired and struggling with the weight of the day, and he makes an incredible offer, you give the burdens and cares to me, and I will give you rest, I will give ‘rest for your souls.’
We all go through periods where we find ourselves struggling with the load we have to carry, it may be stress and pressure in the work place, it may be issues in the home and with the family, it may even be the burden of a sickness or a loss, it could be any number of things that cause us to feel like we are going to be crushed or overwhelmed, but in the midst of it all, Jesus calls out, ‘’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 you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Maybe today is the day when you need to be listening out for the voice of Jesus, you have carried the burden for far too long and you are stooped with worry, stooped with care and anxiety, you are at a crossroads not knowing where to go and what to do, and Jesus calls out to you, hand it all over to me, let me help you, let me carry it for you and allow me to carry you through. You may have listened to advice from here, there, and everywhere, today listen to the ‘beautiful words of Jesus’ allow him to speak into your weary soul and as he speaks wait on him and rest in him.
I always think of the words that Peter penned for us alongside the verses that form our text for us today – ‘casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.’ (1 Peter 5:7) While doing todays devotion another hymn came to mind which I will use for tomorrow along similar lines, but here for today are some of the words, ‘Why should I charge my soul with care? . . . for Jesus is a friend of mine.’
Why charge our souls with care when Jesus invites us to come to him?
Beautiful words of Jesus,
Spoken so long ago,
Yet, as we sing them over,
Dearer to us they grow,
Calling the heavy laden,
Calling to hearts oppressed,
“Come unto me, ye weary;
Come, I will give you rest.”
Hear the call of his voice, so sweet;
Bring your load to the Saviour’s feet;
Lean your heart on his loving breast,
Come, O come, and he will give you rest.
Beautiful words of Jesus,
Cheering us, day by day;
Throwing a gleam of sunshine
Over a cloudy way;
Casting on him the burden
We are too weak to bear,
He will give grace sufficient,
He will regard our prayer.
Beautiful words of Jesus,
Tokens of endless rest,
When, by and by, we enter
Into his presence blest;
There shall we see his beauty,
Meet with him face to face;
There shall we sing his glory,
Praising his matchless grace.