And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord . . . 36 And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God . . . 38 But since ye say, The burden of the Lord; therefore thus saith the Lord; Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord; Jeremiah 23:33, 36, 38 KJV

Some people think that we have to be burden down in life in order to please God—not so. Since there are no burdens in heaven, we needlessly carry burden here on earth (Matt. 6:10). The burdens we carry are not from the Lord but are false burdens or from the enemy. There is no burden from the Lord (text above).

Jesus said, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). We must bring our burdens to Jesus—not to religion or tradition, not to a doctrine or a creed—and Him alone.

To labor with a problem or circumstance is to work hard alone to resolve it; to feel fatigued; to toil with it; and, even have feelings of weariness. To be heavy laden is when we allow the situation to overburden us with feelings of anxiety.

A yoke is a heavy wooden harness for two, custom fitted around the necks of oxen to carry “equal loads” at each end. Figuratively, a yoke speaks of an imposed heavy burden: it could be an undelivered sin; oppression or persecution; weariness in one’s search for God; or, it could be the excessive demands of legalism (Acts 15:10).

Jesus’ yoke is easy, i.e., properly fitted—not cruel or painful—to make the work of salvation easier. God wants to lift the heavy load off you. It’s religion and tradition that burdens you down; it’s the circumstances and problems of life that we must give to Jesus (1 Peter 5:7). When you truly come to Christ and love God with all your heart, you’ll find that His commandments are not burdensome (John 6:37; 1 John 5:3). Jesus is a burden bearer and heavy load sharer!