Lie Down Before You Hurt Yourself
Lie Down Before You Hurt Yourself
Have you ever wondered why we lie down to sleep? Doesn’t matter if you’re a back, belly, or side sleeper - I bet you lie down for it. Why don’t we sleep standing like many other animals? Or sitting up in a chair? Or hanging from the ceiling like a bat? That would be cool. Is it more beneficial?
Well, the answer is multifaceted based on muscle relaxation from certain chemicals released. Realignment of the body and muscular structure. Breathing and blood circulation. Plus it’s just more comfortable that way.
To be honest, I’m not writing to give you sound sleep tips. This is more about lying down than it is about sleep. More accurately, it’s about laying down. Which is grammatically incorrect but biblically accurate and correct.
You see, all of us are carrying a load. A heavy load. Jesus calls it a yoke. This isn’t the inside of an egg. It’s an ancient piece of farming equipment. It’s a large wooden beam that connects two cattle together so they can be used to plow and/or do work. This is why the Bible talks about not being unequally yoked with people… but that’s a topic for another time.
Many times, we get to choose our own yokes. Sometimes life does it for us trying to place things on our shoulders without us asking or wanting. Other times we pick up things ourselves.
To modernize this idea a little bit, let’s replace the yoke with a backpack. And let’s place stones inside for the heavy loads we are carrying.
We all get a backpack and I don’t think we choose that. But we do get to choose what goes inside. We do get to choose what we carry around day after day. This is part of the beauty of the cross of Christ.
The reality is that Jesus is actually asking us not to lay down our backpacks, or yokes, but to replace it with something better - something greater. The cross of Christ is a two-fold invitation. Jesus is inviting us to lay down our yokes - our burdens and problems and frustrations and issues.
He’s asking us to lay it down so that He can pick it up. After all, He died on a cross to conquer those things so that, through Him, we too can conquer them.
But the cross isn’t just the play to lay down your burdens. It’s a place to exchange them. The other part of the invitation of the cross of Christ is to pick up our own cross, and follow Him. This is essentially what it means to be a Christian. To trade our burdens for His. To trade our ashes for His beauty. To trade our death for His life. To trade our sorrows for His joy.
And He promises that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Honestly, I’m still trying to figure all that out. But I think what He’s meaning is that, by comparison, the work He’s asking us to do is so much easier and lighter than the work we and the world places on our shoulders.
Jesus never asks us to do it all. He already has, so why would He ask us to do it? Yes, He asks us to do our part, but part is not the whole. He will never ask you to do the whole thing. Just your part. And He promises to do His. Together.
This is the Christian walk. Hand in hand with Jesus. Side by side with your Savior. He’s carrying your burdens, and you’re carrying His cross.
He’s inviting you to lay down your burdens so that, in turn, you can lay down your life for Him. Not in some sadistic way but in a sacrificial one. Christ our Savior was first our servant. His invitation is for us to do the same. We are never more like Him than when we are serving others - just as He did.
So when your burdens get to heavy, when your backpack is overloaded with bricks you’ve packed in there all by yourself, just remember that Jesus is asking you to lay it down at the foot of the cross. He wants to carry it for you. He wants to walk this life with you. And when the cross seems heavy to bear, know that He’s there next to you. His shoulder is under it too.
I don’t know who is reading this or what you’re going through. I know it’s tough. I know it seems impossible to bear the burden alone. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe you shouldn’t be the one bearing it. Jesus is asking you to lay it down so He can pick it up. So He can pick you up. So you can pick up your cross, and follow Him. Together. Serving others as we share with others the Good News of the Gospel of Christ. So that Jesus can invite others to lay down their burdens so He can pick them up.
Proverbs 3:5 says to “trust in the Lord with all your heart…” If you’ll trust Jesus with your heart, will you also trust Him with your heavy yokes?
Have you ever wondered why we lie down to sleep? Doesn’t matter if you’re a back, belly, or side sleeper - I bet you lie down for it. Why don’t we sleep standing like many other animals? Or sitting up in a chair? Or hanging from the ceiling like a bat? That would be cool. Is it more beneficial?
Well, the answer is multifaceted based on muscle relaxation from certain chemicals released. Realignment of the body and muscular structure. Breathing and blood circulation. Plus it’s just more comfortable that way.
To be honest, I’m not writing to give you sound sleep tips. This is more about lying down than it is about sleep. More accurately, it’s about laying down. Which is grammatically incorrect but biblically accurate and correct.
You see, all of us are carrying a load. A heavy load. Jesus calls it a yoke. This isn’t the inside of an egg. It’s an ancient piece of farming equipment. It’s a large wooden beam that connects two cattle together so they can be used to plow and/or do work. This is why the Bible talks about not being unequally yoked with people… but that’s a topic for another time.
Many times, we get to choose our own yokes. Sometimes life does it for us trying to place things on our shoulders without us asking or wanting. Other times we pick up things ourselves.
To modernize this idea a little bit, let’s replace the yoke with a backpack. And let’s place stones inside for the heavy loads we are carrying.
We all get a backpack and I don’t think we choose that. But we do get to choose what goes inside. We do get to choose what we carry around day after day. This is part of the beauty of the cross of Christ.
The reality is that Jesus is actually asking us not to lay down our backpacks, or yokes, but to replace it with something better - something greater. The cross of Christ is a two-fold invitation. Jesus is inviting us to lay down our yokes - our burdens and problems and frustrations and issues.
He’s asking us to lay it down so that He can pick it up. After all, He died on a cross to conquer those things so that, through Him, we too can conquer them.
But the cross isn’t just the play to lay down your burdens. It’s a place to exchange them. The other part of the invitation of the cross of Christ is to pick up our own cross, and follow Him. This is essentially what it means to be a Christian. To trade our burdens for His. To trade our ashes for His beauty. To trade our death for His life. To trade our sorrows for His joy.
And He promises that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Honestly, I’m still trying to figure all that out. But I think what He’s meaning is that, by comparison, the work He’s asking us to do is so much easier and lighter than the work we and the world places on our shoulders.
Jesus never asks us to do it all. He already has, so why would He ask us to do it? Yes, He asks us to do our part, but part is not the whole. He will never ask you to do the whole thing. Just your part. And He promises to do His. Together.
This is the Christian walk. Hand in hand with Jesus. Side by side with your Savior. He’s carrying your burdens, and you’re carrying His cross.
He’s inviting you to lay down your burdens so that, in turn, you can lay down your life for Him. Not in some sadistic way but in a sacrificial one. Christ our Savior was first our servant. His invitation is for us to do the same. We are never more like Him than when we are serving others - just as He did.
So when your burdens get to heavy, when your backpack is overloaded with bricks you’ve packed in there all by yourself, just remember that Jesus is asking you to lay it down at the foot of the cross. He wants to carry it for you. He wants to walk this life with you. And when the cross seems heavy to bear, know that He’s there next to you. His shoulder is under it too.
I don’t know who is reading this or what you’re going through. I know it’s tough. I know it seems impossible to bear the burden alone. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe you shouldn’t be the one bearing it. Jesus is asking you to lay it down so He can pick it up. So He can pick you up. So you can pick up your cross, and follow Him. Together. Serving others as we share with others the Good News of the Gospel of Christ. So that Jesus can invite others to lay down their burdens so He can pick them up.
Proverbs 3:5 says to “trust in the Lord with all your heart…” If you’ll trust Jesus with your heart, will you also trust Him with your heavy yokes?
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