Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. We give thanks to Rev. Dr Richard Giesken for writing this devotional.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
MATTHEW 11:16-19, 25-30 (NLT)
16 “To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,
17 ‘We played wedding songs,
and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
and you didn’t mourn.’
18 For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”
Jesus’ Prayer of Thanksgiving
25 At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!
27 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Do you ever feel like you can't win?
Play it one way, and you're criticised for being too liberal. Play it another way, and you're told you're too rigid. Sometimes it feels as though there's no pleasing some people.
Yet we spend so much of our energy trying to keep people happy—especially the people who matter to us. We want to be liked, respected, accepted. We carry the weight of living up to everyone's expectations.
Jesus knew that feeling. People criticised John the Baptist for being too austere, and they criticised Jesus for eating with sinners and tax collectors. It was never really about John or Jesus. Some hearts had simply decided not to listen.
Then Jesus says something astonishing:
"Come to me... and I will give you rest."
You don't have to prove yourself to me. You don't have to earn my approval. You can simply come.
Jesus offers three simple invitations:
- Come — bring your burdens.
- Take — accept his yoke, his way of life.
- Learn — become his disciple.
The promise is not freedom from responsibility, but freedom from carrying life alone.
His yoke is "easy" not because life becomes effortless, but because we walk alongside the One who carries the greater weight.
What would it look like today to learn from Jesus instead of merely working for him?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
So often I am weary because I try to carry what only you can bear.
Give me the humility to receive your grace,
the courage to come honestly to you,
and the wisdom to learn your gentle way.
Teach me to exchange striving for trust, anxiety for peace, and self-reliance for life with you.
May I find true rest in your presence today.
Amen.