Come all you who are weary

This is written by Caroline Main. She loves walking her dog in Greenwich Park, going to the theatre and looking at the sea. Peanut butter has her heart and she’s been at St Mary’s for over 10 years.

28 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.'

This passage for me is a literal god-send! I have to continuously remind myself that this is one of God's promises (and He doesn't lie).

Adult life is full of decisions, harsh truths, tragedy & injustice, the great unknown, and monotony. Even stuff that isn't necessarily 'bad' like not having a free evening this week, weigh us down eventually. Jesus lived this life, and he encourages us to exchange what we carry for something He offers instead, but promises us we will hardly feel it - it's part of who we were created to be – his children don't have to carry their own bags. As we grow up, society expects us to do everything "standing on our own 2 feet"…but as Christians, God asks us to let him carry ALL OF IT - to make him responsible for absolutely everything, and to follow his lead. We are STILL his children.

I love how he says 'learn from me' – asking us to watch how He rests! I wonder what that looks like. In The Message 'learn from me' is translated as 'Learn the unforced rhythms of grace'. I'd love to live like that - holding my own agenda lightly, always being open to God rerouting or diverting what I had in mind, trusting that he knows best. We think of life as travelling a linear route, like a game of Super Mario - facing inevitable obstacles as they appear ahead of us! But it seems that in this passage, God is challenging us to see life as an unlimited blank canvas, on which ANYTHING could happen…but PROMISES us that even though that sounds totally terrifying, He will always be there.

Ask God to show you how to truly live without carrying your own difficulties, to hang your bags upon him, not just when things get too much, but daily or even hourly. What would you do with all the spare time you had; if you cast your hourly burdens upon Jesus?