If you tune into enough Christian
television nowadays, you might be
prone to think that we can buy our
way to health, wealth, happiness, and
success. Listening to the many TV
preachers, it would appear that Jesus
is the key to being set free from all
that is difficult and hard about
life. Jesus did say in Matthew 11:30,
“My yoke is easy and My burden is
light.” But did He mean that life itself
would be easy, or was He referring to
something else?
We as humans have a knack for
making things harder than they have
to be. The Pharisees of Jesus’ time had
rule after legalistic rule which served
to wear people out, to burden their
souls, and to make their lives
miserable. Jesus came onto the scene
and said that the only work that we
need to do in terms of making our
souls righteous and giving ourselves
inner peace and rest is to believe
upon Him (John 6:29). To trust in
Jesus is to say that all of our own self-
effort and religious works amount to
nothing unless we by faith repent of
our sins and trust in the blood of
Christ to cleanse us from all sin. Apart
from Him, we can do nothing (John
15:5). That includes being saved and
being sanctified as we grow more and
more into the image of Christ. God
began a good work in us, and He will
be faithful to complete it. In these
truths of our salvation and the
completion of it there is great rest for
our souls. The burden of Christ is
indeed light, for He has carried the
weight of our sins, nailing them to the
cross. Simple faith and repentance is
all that is required. It is that easy.
television nowadays, you might be
prone to think that we can buy our
way to health, wealth, happiness, and
success. Listening to the many TV
preachers, it would appear that Jesus
is the key to being set free from all
that is difficult and hard about
life. Jesus did say in Matthew 11:30,
“My yoke is easy and My burden is
light.” But did He mean that life itself
would be easy, or was He referring to
something else?
We as humans have a knack for
making things harder than they have
to be. The Pharisees of Jesus’ time had
rule after legalistic rule which served
to wear people out, to burden their
souls, and to make their lives
miserable. Jesus came onto the scene
and said that the only work that we
need to do in terms of making our
souls righteous and giving ourselves
inner peace and rest is to believe
upon Him (John 6:29). To trust in
Jesus is to say that all of our own self-
effort and religious works amount to
nothing unless we by faith repent of
our sins and trust in the blood of
Christ to cleanse us from all sin. Apart
from Him, we can do nothing (John
15:5). That includes being saved and
being sanctified as we grow more and
more into the image of Christ. God
began a good work in us, and He will
be faithful to complete it. In these
truths of our salvation and the
completion of it there is great rest for
our souls. The burden of Christ is
indeed light, for He has carried the
weight of our sins, nailing them to the
cross. Simple faith and repentance is
all that is required. It is that easy.