Scripture Scribbles: July 5, 2026

the Gospel

Matthew 11:25-30

At that time Jesus exclaimed: 
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father. 
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves. 
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

the scribble

Give you rest, yoke is easy, and burden light are probably the three phrases in the gospel that we want to give more attention to. 

One of life’s greatest blessings is REST. 

Recharge. Enjoy. Settle. Thank.

Wait, who doesn’t know the meaning of this word? For many people, it is even the best word in the dictionary. Of course we know what rest means. The word gives us comfort and makes us say it’s a long-waited, much-needed, well-deserved, hard-earned, or very anticipated respite. It is the break we take after working laboriously, diligently, patiently, continuously, tediously, and passionately. I could go on, but I feel like the meaning of rest has already been conveyed loudly and clearly. 

Thank you for reading this this far. Please read on because I’m just getting started. 

What exactly do we do on our rest days? Do we really do nothing? I doubt this very much because I’m equally guilty of exploiting and abusing the word sometimes. 

Instead of giving a thousand reasons as to why it is hard for us to do nothing on our rest days, we acknowledge that our reasons are valid. However, may also make it a point to really recharge. This one is easy and we have our ways to accomplish this. While we are at it, may we also enjoy. The fruits of our labor, we need to observe properly. Do we give ourselves a mental tap for jobs well done and for our wins, big or small? I hope so.

Next, we need to settle, as in be still and calm down. Even Jesus Christ did this. He sought to have some time alone. Away from it all. It was His time to commune with nature and with God. We can do this as well --- have some quiet time, alone time, prayer time --- devotedly. To complete the spelling, we need the T. We always thank the Lord and everyone else who made the completion of our tasks possible. Because gratitude truly goes a long, long way. 

Perhaps this is the kind of REST that Jesus wants us live by. What do you think?

My yoke is easy, said the Lord. Imagine how painful and cruel it would be if the yoke put on every animal’s neck is too rough, too big, too small, or too old? Imagine if we humans were given the same ill-fitting yokes? We probably wouldn’t survive a day or two. Jesus is inviting us to take His yoke as well, because this yoke is easy. I think He means it fits perfectly. It is custom-made. It is not one-size-fits-all. This harness is our means to carry out our godly missions in life. How well will we use our means as we perform our divine labor that God assigned to us? The image of Jesus doing Christian work, giving Himself completely to it, is incredibly inspiring. May we use our “harness” with integrity.

The third and last phrase of the Lord was my burden light. 

Are you familiar with the poem Footprints in the Sand? In that poem, the Lord said to the person in the poem: “…When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you. ”

Isn’t this verse one of the best examples of God’s love? The burden becomes lighter when someone carries it with us, but when the Lord himself supports us, this is an entirely different level of help. Because of this, Jesus bravely accepted and took his cross knowing that, first, God was with Him in all His battles. Second, Jesus’ sacrifice was for our sake. No cross was too heavy and no weight was comparable to the strength of Jesus’ love for us. Hence, His burden turned light.

When we think about all our cargos and loads in life, Jesus invites us to look up and then look around, very, very slowly. Because only then will we realize why our “baggage” is not heavy.

Today’s devotion was written by Edwina Yu