Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
The Problem of Hurry
Hurry kills relationships.
“If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.” – Corrie Ten Boom
“Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect–they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.” – John Mark Come
“God walks “slowly” because he is love. If he is not love, he would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It is “slow” yet it is lord over all other speeds since it is the speed of love.” – Kosuke Koyama
You cannot follow an unhurried Jesus, if you’re always in a hurry.
The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. – Mark 6:30-32 NLT
Hurry disorders our hearts
“Hurry is not just a disordered schedule. It’s a disordered heart.” – John Ortberg
“We, for every kind of reason, good and bad, are distracting ourselves into spiritual oblivion. It is not that we have anything against God, depth, and spirit, we would like these, it is just that we are habitually too preoccupied to have any of these show up on our radar screens. We are more busy than bad, more distracted than nonspiritual, and more interested in the movie theater, the sports stadium, and the shopping mall and the fantasy life they produce in us than we are in church. Pathological busyness, distraction, and restlessness are major blocks today within our spiritual lives.” – Ronald Rolheiser
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
The solution for a hurried life is found in the easy yoke of Jesus
His Yoke
“A yoke is a work instrument. Thus when Jesus offers a yoke he offers what we might think tired workers need least. They need a mattress or a vacation, not a yoke. But Jesus realizes that the most restful gift he can give the tired is a new way to carry life, a fresh way to bear responsibilities… Realism sees that life is a succession of burdens; we cannot get away from them; thus instead of offering escape, Jesus offers equipment. Jesus means that obedience to his Sermon on the Mount (his yoke) will develop us in a balance and a ‘way’ of carrying life that will give more rest than the way we have been living.” – Frederick Dale Bruner
The secret of the easy yoke.
“In this truth lies the secret of the easy yoke: the secret involves living as (Jesus) lived in the entirety of his life – adopting his overall lifestyle…Our mistake is to think that following Jesus consists in loving our enemies, going the second mile, turning the other cheek, suffering patiently and hopefully – while living the rest of our lives just as everyone else around us does…it’s a strategy bound to fail.” – Dallas Willard
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)