“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and 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
Unpacking burdens
Begins with repentance
So many of the burdens I carry
Of my own making
Lord forgive me for pride
For a defensive spirit
For failing to listen well
Humility is so much sweeter
A humble and teachable heart is a lovely thing
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise. Psalm 51:17
Lord forgive me for selfishness
For self-sufficiency
For prayerlessness
It isn’t because I fear that prayer is passive
That it is so often my last action
Instead of my first
But because I know it is powerful
Because I know it will change me
And my heart does not always want to be changed
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it. Isaiah 30:15
Lord forgive me for a lack of trust in you
For the desire to control what is not mine to control
How often is it a choice of the way of the flesh
Over the way of the Spirit
As C. S. Lewis says, like “an ignorant child” who is “making mud pies”
Not understanding “the offer of a holiday at the sea”
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
Lord forgive me for a lack of forgiveness
For allowing the seed of bitterness to be watered
If only I saw my sin for what it really is
To understand how ridiculously, outrageously forgiven
I am
How much quicker would I be
to forgive others?
Unpacking burdens
Begins with repentance
So many of the burdens I carry
Of my own making