Is there a person in this world who has never felt the weight of a burden? Burdens are a part of life. If you ever come to the place of being completely burden free, you will have reached Heaven. Until then expect burdens.

The key to bearing burdens is in learning how to be rid of the unnecessary ones. Have you learned how to give your burden to Jesus? Many have not. In the Gospel of Matthew are three wonderful verses that will burn upon every heart that loves and trusts the Lord: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus holds out an open invitation to you: Come, come. I will receive you; I will help you; I will take time with you. Come. Take my yoke upon you, and learn…Learn what? Learn of Jesus; learn of His love. Learn who He really is, and then you will be able to trust Him. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

A Yoke of Love

The yoke Jesus entreats us to take is one that binds together in love, a yoke that unites hearts in the Lord, connects. My yoke is easy, Jesus is saying; be connected with me. It is not difficult to be bound together with me in my yoke of love. You and I will be yoked together, joined in the unity of my might and power.

Two people joined in holy marriage, bound together in great love, are yoked willingly. Jesus is calling us to a willing, loving connection with Him today, yoked in His love and separated from the world.

Are You Conscious of Your Connection with Jesus?

You who have answered the call of Jesus, who have connected yourself up with Him: What kind of life with Him do you have? Have you answered His call? Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Do you have rest? Have you taken His yoke and learned of Him? What kind of walk with Him do you have? Are you conscious of your connection with Him, or are you more conscious of a gap in your relationship? Jesus wants to be a living, breathing reality to you, not a vague concept that walks somewhere in the shadows and never seems to touch you. He reaches for you with a binding cord of great love, redemption, faith and grace: for if you have been born new, you are one with Him. Are you aware of the connection?

Learn to Lean

When you come into the reality of oneness with Jesus, you have true victory over your problems. Rest for your weary soul is found in oneness with Jesus, the help and greatness of Heaven. In oneness with Jesus you learn the strength of Him, and you learn to lean on Him so He can take your burdens. The more you lean on Jesus, the more acquainted with Him you become, the more personal He will be to you, intimate. You want to cooperate with Him any time, anywhere; it’s your desire. Jesus doesn’t need to chase you for days or weeks to communicate with you; as you lean on Him, His mind flows into yours. You are together, bound with love, understanding, wisdom, grace. As you lean on Him you become yoked together, united in Heaven’s greatness. The grace of God has made this wonder possible. In leaning on Jesus you exchange your heavy load for His yoke of love.

Burdens Unsurrendered

Confusion, depression result when a person carries so many burdens that one seems to merge into the next. The weight of them is overwhelming. Although there are some burdens the Lord wants us to carry, many are unnecessary. Through the wisdom of God, we can and must separate our burdens. What burdens does the Lord want us to carry? Those for lost humanity, burdens of prayer for the sick and afflicted.

Even after being saved for many years, some Christians treat Jesus like a total stranger, and so hold onto burdens that should be surrendered to the Lord. They may be polite to Jesus, but there is no real rapport, no real trust in Him to give them rest from their burdens. In their prayers He is a total stranger, recognized only through lip service. They haven’t learned who He really is, the divine One, the Son of the Living God come down to bring miraculous deliverance.

Are you struggling with some horrendous burden you cannot solve? Have you carried your burden until you cannot sleep without medication, until you have become physically ill? Night and day that tormenting burden haunts your spirit, blotting out your fellowship with the Lord. It isn’t the will of God for you to be tormented. Giving you a great invitation to unload that burden on Him, Jesus has made Himself so meek and lowly that He will talk to you any time. He has humbled Himself down to live with you. Jesus, the divine Son of the Living God offers you His miraculous hands. If you have taken Him into your heart, He is walking with you right now. You’re joined with Him, yoked; and He is saying, Let me carry that burden for you; let me give you rest for your soul.

Can you hear the Lord’s invitation, or are you spiritually deaf? Do you ignore Him when He asks to take your load? Are you insecure in the Lord, not trusting Him to do what He said in His Holy Word that He would do? Know that He is faithful to honor His promises—and He has promised you rest.

Do You Need to Unload?

Have burdens taken your mind to the extent that you have no idea how to unload them? Are you a person who doesn’t know how to unload your burdens because you don’t know how to yield your mind, your spirit to the Lord? Let your mind and spirit flow with Jesus’ mind and Spirit until the hindrances are all gone, until the two of you are in one mind, one accord. You cannot be in one mind, one accord with Jesus when you are pulling away from Him. Not until you first yield yourself to Jesus can you yield your burden to Him. You may be struggling to release your burdens—and failing—because you haven’t released yourself completely into the hands of the Lord.

When you stop fighting in your own strength, when self is no longer rebelling against trusting God completely, Jesus just reaches over and takes your burden. Now, rather than clutching that burden to your bosom, you’re asking for His will; you’re wanting all of Jesus. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you (I Peter 5:7). It’s that easy, that simple. Take my yoke…For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. As you are yoked to Jesus, joined to Him, effortlessly He takes your burden. His strength is yours, His power is available to you, His greatness; but if you fail to use what he offers, you will struggle daily. What do you need to unload? Identify it and give it to Jesus.

A Song in the Night

Jesus will take your burden and give you a song—when you let Him. Didn’t He give you a song in your heart when He saved you? You were burdened with sin, the heaviest load a person could carry. In sin you had no real life, for you were apart from God. Had you died in that condition you would have spent an eternal living death in hell. But you met Jesus. He caught your attention. You learned enough about Him to know that He died for you. You believed the Word of God that said, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9,10). His promise of salvation was sufficient. You cried out to Him for forgiveness of your sins and asked Him into your heart. Taking your burden of sin, He gave you a song of salvation, redemption, peace, joy and gladness. Jesus gave it to you. Now that you have Him in your heart, let Him give you more songs in the night, more melodies of His redeeming power as the heavy burdens are lifted. You are yoked to Him. He is a part of you. Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel (Isaiah 30:29).

The nights are dark and frightening during the storm, but let Jesus sing His song of deliverance in your heart. He promised to give you rest in your soul when you give Him your burden. He is Jesus, the divine One; and He has all power. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

Study the Burden-Bearer, Not the Burden

Learn everything about Jesus. Study Him. Have you studied your burden more than your burden-bearer? Take your eyes off the burden and put them on Jesus. Know He is ready to take the burden; be ready to let it go, to turn it over to Him.

You don’t know how to let go of the burden? You didn’t know how salvation worked, how to let go of your sins; but when you came to Jesus, you yielded to Him, trusted Him, and He took over. You didn’t really know how to become saved, you just became willing to let go of your sin, and Jesus did the rest. Jesus is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus interceded for you, saved you to the uttermost. Why hold on to your burden any longer? As long as you held onto one sin, Jesus couldn’t take over, you couldn’t have Him; but when you let it go, Jesus came into your heart.

Before I was saved, I didn’t know how to be born new. All I did was yield to Jesus, and He saved me. He did it. Oh the wonder of it all! I was totally amazed; I had no idea He could change me that much, change me so completely, so definitely, instantaneously. I didn’t have to work at it; my salvation was all in the hands of the Lord. Suddenly I was joined with Him, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. Suddenly, I was united with Jesus in a yoke of love.

The Spirit of God takes away that yoke bondage of sin, and gives the spirit of liberty in Jesus. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (II Corinthians 3:17). Jesus becomes the burden bearer of your sin when you receive salvation.

God Lets You Choose

God has given you the choice between reaching for the forbidden fruit or keeping away from that tree. He has given you knowledge of the danger of even looking at it. Jesus would never go with you to that forbidden tree of disobedience to God. To reach out for the forbidden fruit, you must break your connection of love with Him. You have the choice.

In Eden, before man gave in to the lure of the forbidden, he was bound to God by a yoke of love. Adam and Eve had the power to break that yoke. The Lord could have put them under a yoke of bondage, but He simply does not work like that. God wants man to serve Him through love, not through fear. He is a God of love; and when you walk with Him, you walk in love. However, disobedience to God brings judgment.

Adam and Eve exercised their free choice. They decided to carry their own burdens; unfortunately they didn’t know what burdens really were. They soon found out. Like the rude awakening of children who have been given everything yet decide to run away from home, Adam and Eve weren’t aware how dependent they were on God until His presence was withdrawn. Calamity fell, and God wasn’t there to pick up the pieces. Too late they realized what they had done.

Ages passed before that rebellion of man and woman could be conquered. Had not Jesus come, there would be no escape from it even today. But since the Atonement of Jesus on the Cross for our sins, that rebellion has been conquered by each individual who has taken Jesus into his heart. Salvation is an individual choice; God deals with each man, woman, boy and girl on a personal basis. The fate of your soul is in your own hands.

Many fail God because they choose not to learn of Him, choose not to relinquish their bondage of sin for His liberty of grace. Failing to learn of Him, of His presence, they miss the walk they could have with Him. Choosing the world, they never come into close fellowship with Jesus, the realization that they could be bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh.

When you choose to be one with Jesus, there is no separation from Him. He will never leave you or forsake you, and you would never let Him down. Walking with you all the way, He will be your security. Because the Lord would not walk unclean paths, neither will you. You and He are one.

Jesus Will Take Your Burden of Sickness

Through the wisdom of God we separate our burdens, for He wants us to bear His burdens, not the devil’s. The devil afflicts, damns souls in his bondage, but Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.

When Jesus walked the earth, He was healing people or coming back from healing just about every time we look in on Him. He didn’t teach that sickness and disease were love tokens from God; He identified them as works of the devil. Jesus saved; He healed: He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). With the shed blood of Jesus we have deliverance from all our sins, and with His stripes we have physical healing. The burden of sickness is one the Lord despises. The Lord is the One who healeth all thy diseases (Psalm 103:3).

Jesus healed when He was here on Earth, and He is still healing today. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8). What a song of gladness these scriptures can put into your heart when you really accept them! The Lord Jesus Himself is ready to take those burdens of sickness, afflictions, bondages, and set you free. He proved it when He was here on Earth by freeing people who were bound physically and spiritually.

On hearing of a crippled woman, who for eighteen years had not been able to lift herself up, Jesus called her to Him and said: Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God (Luke 13:12,13). Jesus called her infirmity devil bondage. It was not a love token from the Lord; if you think it is, you have not learned who Jesus is. This woman who had been in bondage was instantly made whole. She took on the yoke of Jesus, a yoke of love, health, deliverance. His yoke is easy and His burden light.

Family Burdens

Many hold to burdens that are destroying them, refusing to let go. Does your burden have a name? Is little Johnny worrying you to death, little Susie? Are you completely frustrated with your child—or children—and have no idea how to handle them? Turn them over to Jesus. Jesus will help you. Cooperate with Him and let Him direct you. He will show you what to use on that little burden of yours to straighten it out. He will carry the load while you give the discipline, discipline with love. If you back away from disciplining your child, then you are not cooperating with the Lord, and He cannot move in the way He wants.

Trust God; go with the directions of God. The Lord has special directions for your child; if you ignore them, don’t blame God for the results. You walked with Jesus, but you wouldn’t deliver your children into His hands. You wouldn’t let Him carry the burden, thinking you could do better on your own. You felt God wouldn’t be as concerned about your children as you are. God cares more for your children than you ever could. Trust Him. Teach your children His ways, and give them godly discipline. The Father to the children shall make known thy truth (Isaiah 38:19).

Hug God’s Promises to Your Heart

How can you be one with the Lord when you rebel? How can you be one with Him and not accept what He is saying? Through His Word He talks to you whenever you listen. You may receive help for a moment, yield to Him so He can move for you in a wonderful way; but then you drift back into self, insisting on carrying your own burdens, those the Lord never intended you to carry. Instead of hugging the promises of God to you, you hug your burden. Whenever you hug the burden rather than the promises of God, you become weak, lacking the Spirit of God. Hug His promises close to your heart; let Him carry those heavy, heavy burdens, and you will become strong in the Lord, full of praise.

Do you think your problems are too much for the Lord? Your burdens don’t make Him weary, for He has great strength. Jesus delights in carrying that heavy load for you as long as you know who He is and give Him the glory. Be a part of Him, separated from the world, pure, clean, holy, consecrated and dedicated. What a beautiful scene the Father sees when He looks down on you yoked together with His Only Begotten Son. You’re walking together, in step; the great plan of redemption is in operation.

On the Sea of Galilee the disciples forgot that Jesus was their burden bearer. Were they really yoked to Him then? Did they know His place of miraculous deliverance? And when he [Jesus] was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him (Matthew 8:23-27)! Had the disciples learned enough about Jesus, they would have known they had miraculous help on board. But instead of waking Jesus before the storm became so ferocious, they let their apprehension grow as they bailed water. Finally, frantic with fear, they could only think of disaster. Because they failed to yield to the love and faith of God, to the sound mind that faith brings with it, the disciples were overcome with the danger of the situation. They didn’t hug the promises of Jesus to their hearts.

Robbed through Fear

As the devil robbed the disciples of their trust in God on the stormy sea, he seeks to rob you of a sound mind so that you cannot think like Jesus. He works to steal God’s Spirit of love from you. If you are robbed of God’s love for even a moment, the devil can use that moment to step in and possess you with fear. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear (I John 4:18). Fear takes over when God’s perfect love is not alive in the heart. Fear drives people to desperate measures. The disciples on the stormy sea shook Jesus awake, accusing Him of not caring whether they perished. Jesus was resting until the disciples felt the need of Him, until the disciples turned to Him. Fear in the heart will remain as long as you do not seek the love of the Lord to drive it out. Perfect trust in the Lord brings His perfect love into your heart. Learn of me, Jesus said, and you will find rest for your soul.

Jesus, Our Link to God

Child of God, you know where to find the Lord; He awaits your call. All the information you need to know about Jesus is covered in His Holy Word and through the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Do you doubt the One you are yoked to in love, the One who connects you to God?

It took Jesus dying on the Old Rugged Cross to connect man to His God once again. Through man’s own will and arrogance in Eden, that connection had been broken. For hundreds of years God called out through the night in His great love, but He couldn’t keep man connected with Him outside Eden. Carefully He gave instructions under the Law, but they were not followed in any great way. The blood of animals, the many, many sacrifices of Old Testament times did not please God. Not until Jesus came, the link between man and his God, was man able to have true fellowship with God again.

The Jesus connection was stronger than the forbidden fruit of Lucifer, stronger than all the seventeen works of the flesh and the desires of the flesh, stronger than all the powers of hell itself. It took divine blood to make that link, but thank God it was made! Once again a way was provided for man to be holy inside and out, dedicated, consecrated to God and built up with the knowledge of God.

You’ll never know who you are until you know who your link to God, Jesus, is. When you discover who He is, then He can help you know who you are. Until you know His place, you will not find your place.

What is His place? He is the divine One, born of the Virgin Mary; He is the Son of the Living God, Savior, Redeemer, Master, Baptizer, Deliverer and coming King. He is Lord of lords and King of kings. Jesus is all of these things—and He is yoked to you in love, the bridge between you and the Father.

Let the reality of what is available to you be alive in your heart. Since you are yoked to Him, knowing who He is, it should not be hard to learn your place. You’re one with Jesus, walking in step with Him in His great yoke of love and understanding, and connected to God.

Jesus prayed to the Father for that oneness not only with His disciples, but with us: Neither pray I for these [the disciples] alone, but for them [all Christians] also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:20-23,26). What a wonderful prayer for us Jesus gave! Oneness with Jesus and the love of the Father is offered to “whosoever will” by Jesus, our link to God.

Are You Pleased with Jesus?

As you let the Lord please you, you will be pleased with Him. If your heart is clean and pure, He does please you. The Lord pleases you when you have become separated from all sin. God can please only the holy, the righteous, never the ungodly. No matter what wonders the Lord has wrought for the ungodly, He has not pleased them. They were not pleased with the Brightest Jewel of Heaven, the Pearl of Great Price. But others find no fault in Him; they are pleased. Behold the Lamb of God! cried John the Baptist. He was pleased. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29). We as blood-washed children of God, yoked with our Lord, can cry those wonderful words of faith with John. If Jesus has taken all your sins, they are gone. Walking with Him daily, you find no fault in Him. He is divine, more than just a man. He became the God/Man to bring us into righteousness, the godly way; and you are greatly pleased, heart, mind and soul.

Covered with Wings of Love and Grace

I say again, this wonderful yoke between the Lord and ourselves is not bondage, but liberty and freedom. My yoke is easy, the Lord said; it’s easy to be yoked to me. Jesus is not a hard taskmaster, no Simon Legree; He is your Redeemer of love, of wisdom. He is here to direct you into paths of righteousness, to lead you beside still waters. He is Jesus. Come and walk with me! He is crying. Covering you with His marvelous wings of love and grace, He will take your heavy, heavy burdens as you give them to Him.

Be baptized in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will live on the inside of you, making the yoke of Jesus reality to your heart. Yield your will to Him. The same Holy Ghost that came upon Jesus will come upon you. The same love, the pure, pure love of the Holy Ghost, will be in the Lord’s eyes as He looks upon you; and you will be able to love Jesus with that same pure love the Holy Ghost gives you. The day you received salvation you received the great love of God. That love knows Jesus and what He will do for you, teaches you about Him. The grace and love of Jesus become real to you through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Walk in Perfect Trust

Our walk with Jesus must be in perfect trust. Learn how to deliver the burdens to Jesus that He wants to carry; trust Him to take care of them. Had not the Early Church Christians given their terrible burdens to the Lord they would have been destroyed. They faced the burden of torture, of death, the burden of being thrown into prison like criminals. Perhaps from their prison window they watched loved ones torn apart by wild beasts or burned at the stake. They may have closed their eyes to the horrible sight, but the screams rang in their ears. And they knew the same fate awaited them. What did they do with such a burden? The truly anointed of God gave them to Jesus. So much of the power, the greatness of God moved within them that they yielded all burdens totally to Him. They could say with Paul: For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (II Timothy 1:12). They knew in whom they believed; they knew He would keep that which they had committed unto Him—and they had committed their souls into His hands. No longer was the question of living or dying theirs; they had given that burden to the Lord. Embracing all of Jesus, the Early Church knew they were embracing life, for they could hear Him say: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die (John 11:25,26). They knew they would probably die, yet they would live; they would have eternal life with Jesus.

The Early Church knew who Jesus was, who they were yoked with. Their persecutors didn’t. Frail frames of clay, they were hated and despised by those who hated and despised Jesus. Many martyrs went to their deaths singing. How could they do that? They knew they were yoked with Jesus. They walked with Him and He walked with them. The Early Church had accepted His yoke of greatness, His yoke of love. With gladness and joy they died victorious, powerful witnesses for Christ.

For us to be the kind of witnesses the Lord wants in this hour, we, too, must know we are yoked with Him, a binding tie of great love. Our work for Him is to be a work of love, gladly performed. Anything for you, Master; anything for my Beloved. Knowing that soon the Lord will take you out of this world, you gladly help bring in the harvest, willingly make any sacrifice. When the burden is too great, have confidence that you can unload it on Jesus. With joy, keep in step with the precious Lord.

Yoked to Jesus in love, yoked in faith and deliverance, you praise Him as He reaches over to take all the unnecessary burdens. Jesus will carry your burden in such an easy way, with such love and joy that you can do nothing but praise Him more than you have ever praised Him.

Unload Your Burdens Once and for All

Do you have a burden you want to unload? It may be a financial burden, a burden in the home or outside—get ready to unload it. In your mind, hold it out before the Lord, thinking about Jesus and who He really is. Remember how much He loves you, how completely you can trust Him, how He has promised to give you rest. Take His yoke, and find rest in your soul. His yoke is easy and His burden light. Now give that burden to the Lord once and for all; place it in His strong arms; give Him full responsibility for it. He wants you to depend on Him completely. In yourself, you cannot do this; but the Holy Spirit is there to help you unload.

Pray this prayer with me now:

Oh, God, there have been so many tears shed over my burdens, so much heartache and lost sleep. Some of my burdens have been carried year after year, but I need to be delivered. Jesus, I hear you saying: “Come, bring your burden. I will take it. I will give you rest. I know you’re tired, weary, weak from carrying that heavy load.” Now, blessed Lord, I come to you to unload my burdens. Oh, blessed Lord, anoint me to unload, to give that burden to you right now in the name of Jesus. I give it to you now in faith, believing your promise to carry it. And I thank you and praise your holy name for your miracle of love and tender care for me.

Trust Him to carry that burden. You have liberty from it, freedom in the Lord. Lift up your heart toward Heaven in praise to the Lord, glorifying His holy name. Holy, holy is the name of the Lord! We thank you Lord for deliverance. We thank you for your wonderful invitation and promise: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). Burdens, unnecessary burdens…what do you do with them? Give them to the Lord, and never take them back.