Ezekiel 44:17–18: “And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house. They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.”

October 7th, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotional

These 2 verses point to the fact that the believer who serves the Lord faithfully, does so without sweat, meaning that the work of the Lord isn’t a burden or a chore. Interestingly, there are several places in Scripture that tell us that worship is often sacrifice, but we are never told that worship is work, something that causes us to sweat.

When the children of Israel were traveling around the wilderness of the Sinai Desert, we can be sure there was a lot of sweating going on as they obediently moved the tabernacle from one location to another. However, when it came time to actually worship God, to express to Him the praise, thanksgiving, and song that was in their hearts, the Lord didn’t want anything that caused sweat. God wants our worship to flow out of an overflowing heart.

We read that in the prophet Jeremiah’s day, the saying “The burden of the Lord, the burden of the Lord.” was commonly used. But God commanded Jeremiah never to use it, because it was not true, God does not put burdens on His people. In fact, He does quite the opposite. Jesus said:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matt. 11:28)

It is a fatal mistake to try to bear life’s load in a single yoke collar. The Lord never intends for us to carry His burden alone; His yoke is a neck harness made for two. Jesus Himself commands us to allow Him to be one of the two bearing the weight. He wants us to take off the taxing harness of self and accept the master’s relaxing dual harness.

“LORD, we thank You that You have promised that Your yoke is easy, and so when we start to feel burdened, it must mean that we are trying to carry something we aren’t supposed to be carrying.”