Take Everything

“If more of You means less of me, take everything. Yes, all of You is all I need, take everything.” – More Like Jesus by Passion Music

What does it take to give it all to God? Complete surrender. I tend to carry a lot of weight on my shoulders. Some of it is warranted, such as life responsibilities, getting school done, and making sure goals and needs are met at work. However, there’s a lot of things that I tend to take on in addition to what I have to, or even should. Whether it’s because of my inability to say “no,” cultural pressure that says I should be doing more, or for the sake of my own pride to show the world that I can do it all, it’s not healthy. Lazy is not a word I would ever use to describe myself because I am always “busy.” Our culture is consumed with busyness. It’s what drives our society. You can always be doing more.

And so we do.

Do more.

We keep doing more and more until we’re so exhausted and coffee no longer has affect on us that we burn out. Or at least that’s the pattern in my life when I don’t have checks and balances in my life along with people checking up and holding me accountable with my time. We simply cannot bear it all. We cannot cary the weight of the world on our shoulders.

*Looks in the mirror* I cannot carry the weight of the world on my shoulders.

We, I, have to learn to let go.

But how do we let go? There’s so much to carry! You carry your own weight, comprised of your personal life and responsibilities, as well as all your thoughts, worries, aspirations, and fears. You carry the weight of those in your family because you love them and want the absolute best for them, so you do everything in your power to make it happen. Then you take on more at work to prove yourself to your superiors and move up the ladder of success. Then, maybe you take on even more outside of that, carrying the weight of friends and community. Even more than all that, we tend to pile on the weight of our fears and things completely outside of our control. Right now, COVID-19 is starting to spread more around the country and this virus is causing mass panic. While this is soemthing to be informed and prepared for, many people are going beyond preparedness and into panic mode. But how do we let all of that go?

The answer is easier said than done. The answer is the first two sentences I started this post with. Give it all to God. Complete surrender. There is so much God’s Word has to say about anxiety, worry, stress, and bearing a load, but I just want to focus on one passage right now. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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,” (NASB).

If you are weary or carrying a heavy load, which I imagine is most of us, Jesus says, “Come to Me.” We can go to Him. I can go to Him. We don’t have to carry the load alone. We can cry out and go before Jesus, our Savior, our Lord, our God with all that we have. When we do that, Jesus said He will give us rest. We can lay it all down at His feet and find rest.

Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you…” A yoke is an interesting device and most people today don’t know what it is unless they know their history or work a lot with farm animals. A yoke is a device put on oxen or other beasts of burden that dispenses the weight of whatever they are pulling or carrying, such as a plow. It means they share the load. So Jesus is saying you don’t have to carry the load alone. He wants to share your load. And when you give your load to Jesus, He bears it all.

He also says, “learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” Jesus wants us to learn from Him. He set the example. He is gentle and humble in heart. First, through Jesus, we must become gentle. Gentleness does not mean shy or cowardly. In fact, there is strength in gentleness. Gentleness is being kind, amiable, friendly, and honorable. Treating others and situations firmly and graciously simultaneously. Then there’s humbleness. That means not being prideful. So that excuse I gave earlier on why I carry so much sometimes is because of my own pride to show the world that I can do it all is the exact opposite of what Jesus tells us to do. To humble myself, I have to admit that I cannot do it all. None of us can. Only Jesus can and He wants to take the load off our shoulders and out of our hands. When we do that, we will find rest for our souls.

Jesus finishes by saying, “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Jesus’ yoke is easy because He can bear all the weight. He does more than just share the weight, He takes it all. So when we give it all to Jesus, walk alongside Him, and follow His leading, the burden is light. All of our worries, our anxieties, our fears, and even our responsibilities, we can give it all over to Jesus. When we do, He will lead us on a wonderful journey following Him.

A word of warning, and I’ll admit, a struggle for me, once you give something over to Jesus, don’t take it back. When we take it back, we say that we don’t trust Jesus can bear it and our pride is saying that we can. But the truth is, we can’t. I can’t. So give it all to Him, let Him keep it, and follow Him, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. In Him, I will find rest for my soul. Jesus, if more of You means less of me, take everything I am and have. Jesus, all of You is all I want and need, take everything.