Lesson 5, July 24-30
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Matthew 11:20-30, Matthew 5:5, Deuteronomy 18:15, Galatians 5:1, Exodus 18:13-22, Galatians 6:2.
Memory Text: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
What a wonderful promise we have been given here by Jesus. After all, who among us at times hasn’t felt heavy-laden, if not so much with work itself (though that can often be the case) but with the labor and heavy-ladenness that life itself brings? And Jesus here is telling us that, yes, He knows what we are going through, and yes, He can help us — that is, if we let Him.
And then, after telling us to bear His yoke, Jesus says, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). In other words, Get rid of the yokes and burdens that you are carrying (give them to Me) and take Mine upon yourself instead, for Mine are easier to bear.
How can we experience the rest that Jesus is talking about? After all, we live in a world where, after sin, the Lord said to Adam “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” (Genesis 3:19). Thus, we have known what it is like to labor and to be carrying burdens that can seem way too hard to bear, at least by ourselves alone.
