Come to me, all who labor 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. (Matthew 11:28-30)
Religion can be exhausting.
According to Oxford Languages religion can be defined as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially a God or gods.” But it can also mean “a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance.”
And, friend, it is ever-so-easy to begin to pursue—“with supreme importance”— Christian behaviors rather than Christ Himself.
We might wonder, am I reading my Bible the right number of minutes each day?
Do I pray hard enough, long enough, and for the right things?
Am I serving enough and doing enough for Jesus?
Or perhaps you are like me, and you wonder, am I even useful the way I am? Perhaps I need to be more like (fill in the blank).
We trade intimate relationship with God for religion and rules. We strive for standards we can never reach, until—worn out and exhausted—we wonder what happened to the joy of our salvation.
This is not a new problem. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor 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.”
The Pharisees had developed rules and regulations to govern every aspect of life. They had elevated outward appearance and actions above inner intentions and a heart-posture of humility before God. They saw only the Law and forgot about mercy.
But Jesus offered more. Jesus offered Himself.
When we come to Jesus, we trade our sin for His grace. We trade rules for relationship. We trade the weariness of striving for rest of acceptance.
Friend, the only thing to which we should ever “ascribe supreme importance” is our relationship with Jesus. As we spend more time with Jesus, we will become more like Jesus. And as we become more like Jesus, we will act more like Jesus. And that is better than any list of rules.
Becoming like Jesus is truly a pursuit of supreme importance.
Until next time,
Shelby
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