Lenten Reader | Day 28

April 5th, 2025

The Great Invitation

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Can you imagine standing in a crowd 2,000 years ago and hearing Jesus speak these words? Try for a moment to go back in time and put yourself there and read these texts again. When I imagine myself standing before Jesus, his words hit differently. It reads to me as a Great Invitation. It is a simple invitation but a life changing one.

The invitation is this: Jesus is inviting us to himself. He is offering us an invitation to come and dwell with Him. It’s truly what we were made for. It reminds me of another passage from John 6:35: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” The invitation in Matthew and the invitation in John are both invitations and promises that when we come to Jesus, our souls get satisfied. No more hunger, no more thirst, and finally some rest. Jesus takes our heavy burdens and heavy yoke and exchanges them for an easy yoke and a light burden.

So what should we do to get this light yoke? First, I believe we do exactly what Jesus says. We come to him and surrender our burdens unto him. In John 6:28-29 the crowd asks Jesus, “We want to perform God’s works too. What should we do?” Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

This invitation is just as true today as it was 2,000 years ago. So will we today and every day after, run to Jesus. Cast all our weariness and burdens upon him. Believe in him with all our strength. He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Son of God, and he loves you. I pray you find rest in him today.

Danny Saultz