http://www.spiritualkindling.com/Site/Home/Home.html Free Sermon Illustrations and Bible Resources iWeb 3.0.4 http://www.spiritualkindling.com/Site/Home/Entries/2011/7/14_The_Heaviest_Burden_of_All__Matthew_11__28-30.html 7b9dfbcf-c65c-460c-ab1a-9e9bea7ed36b Thu, 14 Jul 2011 06:39:20 -0500 “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” <br/><br/>Most of Jesus’ followers earned their livelihood as manual laborers. At the end of the day, they would lay down the tools of their trades – their mallets, saws, sickles, plows, fishing nets and looms. They would rest up from the days’ labors. But the following day, they would have to return to work. Jesus understood that. The burden He wanted to lift from their shoulders was not something that could be returned to the tool shed at the end of the work day. It was something far weightier than the tools of their trades. It was the emotions we all have to work through in the course of a typical day.<br/><br/>Our doubts, fears, anger and resentments are difficult to set aside at the end of the day. They are an integral part of us, embedded in our memories where we relive stressful feelings again and again, each time at a cumulative spiritual and psychological toll. <br/><br/>Our emotions may be intangible but, in one sense, they are weightier than the the tools we carry with us day in and day out.<br/><br/>For instance, the keys to our homes may be lightweight but they carry with them the heavy burden of mortgage payments. Our credit cards might weigh a couple of ounces but the emotions attached to them can weigh us down. A small cell phone is a constant reminder that we have big responsibilities to others. <br/><br/>When Jesus spoke about unburdening us, He was referring to the emotional baggage that weighs us down.<br/><br/>Notice that Jesus did not say that He wanted to free us of all burdens. He simply wanted to replace our yoke with His yoke. He wanted us to labor in His fields. His burden is lighter because we are not yoked alone. He is right beside us, pulling for us to succeed. <br/><br/>But in order to be yoked to the Lord, we must be set aside some of our own concerns and focus on the needs those who are truly heavily burdened. We have to look outward instead of inward.<br/><br/>Once we do that, we cannot fail for as it says in 1 Corinthians 15: 58, ‘those who labor in the Lord, do not labor in vain.’