In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said we could come to Him and He would give us rest from our burdens. I’ve heard quite a few thoughts on what sort of burden He was referring to and what kind of rest He offers. Tozer gives a pretty typical one in this chapter of The Pursuit of God:
The burden born by mankind is a heavy and crushing thing. The word Jesus used means ‘a load, carried to the point of exhaustion’. Rest is simply release from that burden.
Seems pretty straightforward. But he goes on to give his thoughts on just what the heavy and crushing burden is that mankind bears. The burden he describes is not what you might think, but I cannot argue with his words:
There are three sources of the burden: pride, pretense and artificiality.
He goes on to describe the rest Jesus offers as:
the rest of meekness, the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend.
What is our burden? Tozer suggests it is the burden of putting on a smile day after day when we’d rather cry. It is the burden of pretending everything is great with our marriage or our kids or our job, when it is all a mess. It is the burden of trying to do everything without asking for help. It is the burden of trying to keep up with everyone else, even when we don’t really want to.
Can you imagine being released from all of that? Can you imagine never having to pretend again? Can you imagine always being willing to tell people exactly how you are doing and asking for help any time you need it? Can you image the “blessed relief” that all would be?
Jesus offers that rest to anyone who asks. We need never be caught up in pride, pretense or artificiality again.
Let Jesus give you the rest of meekness.
