In Lauren’s grandparents’ house, a needlepoint of Matthew 11:28-30 hung on the wall beside her grandparents’ chairs. Over the course of the more than twenty years that I was blessed to know that amazing couple, I read those words more times than I could ever hope to count. Even though I’ve read those words in my own devotional space even more, when I read them, I see them as they appeared in that needlepoint. I always see them in that form, and I have to remind myself of those words multiple times each day.
We tend to live in a world that is defined by the things that we must do: our to-do lists, the policies and procedures of work, the laws of the land in which we live. “Must-do’s” are always held in opposition to those things that we shouldn’t do. The delicate balance required between these two lists leaves many of us feeling as though we are constantly shifting a heavy load back and forth upon our weary shoulders. As this season of Overflow draws near to its end and we invite you to consider how to apply the various spiritual practices to your life, this process can feel like yet another burden to add.
But there’s a trick that we all need to remember: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” God did not give the Israelites the Law of Moses as a burden to them, but as a means that they might be free in their worship of Him. Jesus did not show us His undeserved grace as a way to try to bind our hands with guilt over what He has done for us, but as the only way to provide us with true freedom. The spiritual practices of Overflow are meant not as yet another thing that we try to cram into an already overwhelming day, but as a framework to help us find ways to allow ourselves to be intentionally present with our Creator.
When Jesus said “My yoke is easy and my burden is light,” He meant that to follow Him is a path forward that does not require that we take on any more; he asked only that we surrender all that we are to Him. When we make the conscious decision to take on this yoke, to carry this burden, we find that our Lord carries the weight, and He provides us with the ability to do immeasurably more than we could ever accomplish on our own.