Verse a Prayer

Matthew 11:28

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
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Context and meaning

The invitation comes at the end of a tense chapter. Jesus has just rebuked cities that saw his miracles and changed nothing. Then, instead of raising the demand, he opens his arms.

The audience is defined broadly: "all you who labor and are heavily burdened". In the immediate context the likely image is religious — people crushed by a system of rules impossible to keep. But since then the invitation has applied to every kind of exhaustion.

What he offers is not a vacation, it is a yoke. In the following verses: "take my yoke upon you and learn from me". A yoke was the wooden beam that joined two oxen to pull together. The promise is not to stop pulling; it is not to pull alone, and with a proportionate load.

"Rest for your souls" is the line that closes the invitation — inner rest, available inside the work, not only after it.

Related verses

  1. casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

    1 Peter 5:7See in the chapter

This verse appears in

AnxietyVerses to calm an anxious heart: promises of care, invitations to hand over the weight and reminders that you are not alone.Good nightVerses to sleep in peace and send at night: the quiet sleep of Psalm 4, the shelter of Psalm 91 and the rest Jesus promised.DepressionVerses for those going through depression: the God who hears the cry, lifts from the pit and sustains — and an invitation to seek help.ComfortVerses to comfort and be comforted: the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, the valley of the shadow, rest for the weary.

Scripture text: World English Bible (WEB), public domain. Prayers, introductions and reflections: original text by this site, not affiliated with any denomination. Devotional content; it does not replace medical, psychological or legal advice.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), public domain. "World English Bible" is a trademark of eBible.org. ebible.org/web/