It Doesn’t Belong to Me

A couple Fridays ago, a church in San Antonio, Texas, Community Bible Church, put out an album called “The Crown is Yours”. On this album is a song called, “It Doesn’t Belong to Me.” Four years ago, I had the honor of getting to help write this song. There were four of us in the room. We had all been invited to be apart of Bethel’s new song writing practicum weekend. With fifty participants from all over the country, it was an amazing opportunity.

It had been a really long day, we had been in several writes with different groups we were assigned to and it was late in the evening. We were tired. Long story, short, we decided to write about rest.

In the church world, sometimes things can be said about songs that don’t directly sing about Jesus. “They aren’t worship”, they say. And while to an extent I see their point and understand their heart, there is something to be said about allowing your own heart to respond and come into agreement with the things Jesus said.

We wrote this song based on Matthew 11:28-30, which says,

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.’”

I remember in the days before stepping into this write, the Lord also leading me to another scripture. He showed me something I had never seen before. Hebrews 12 follows the great “Hall of Faith” found in Hebrews 11, which tells story after story of those who made it. Regardless of their mistakes and shortcomings, they made it through.

Hebrews 12 starts off like this:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Vs 1-2)

Notice, it says weight and sin. I remember thinking four years ago about how I had never noticed that it said weight. I always thought it was only sin that I needed to lay aside.

My favorite part of the whole song, is the bridge. I have found myself singing it often over the years.

“I wasn’t made to carry, anything that’s heavy, it doesn’t belong to me, it doesn’t belong to me.

And any voice that tells me, the lie that I’m unworthy, it doesn’t belong to me. It doesn’t belong to me.”

I think it’s really hard to believe this. It’s a theology that messes with my reality, really. Because, it sure does feel like things can get pretty heavy. Pain is heavy, grief is heavy… heartache, waiting, disappointment, loneliness, tragedy and trials… these things are all pretty heavy. I don’t think any of us would argue with that. So what is this way of life Jesus and Paul both seemed to invite us into?

I have two thoughts: Perspective and Presence

I learned a few years ago that a Rabbi’s yoke is His teachings and perspective. It’s taking on how He sees the world and how we were made to participate in it. Proverbs 3:5-6 come to mind:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”

Also, Matthew 18:1-4,

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

The yoke of Jesus is as simple as a child’s trust. They believe before they understand. They trust before they see. Maturity in the kingdom of God grows us up into dependency rather than the independency that our culture teaches us.

Again, another passage, Mark 8:31-35

“And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’ And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.’”

This passage is again about perspective. It’s about surrendering our understanding of what we think life is all about and picking up His definition and ways instead. It’s about following Jesus, by setting our minds on the things of God rather than the things of man. Our understanding and perspective is a weight to lay aside.

A few weeks ago, I listened to a Kristi McLelland teaching she did at her church. It was called “Holiness and Faithfulness”. She said, “Holiness isn’t the absence of something. Holiness is the presence of something.” And I would add “Someone”. The next week, I was reading in her book “Rediscovering Israel” and she said the same thing over and over throughout the chapter I was in. She ended this chapter, by saying, “The Gospels are not accounts of things that Jesus did not do… all that He abstained from. Rather, the Gospels account for what Jesus did do; holiness coming to the ground, the kingdom invading earth, light coming into the darkness.”

I think so often we think that living a holy life (a set apart life) is defined by the things we don’t do because we are Christians. But the more I have thought about this, the more I’m convinced that this is religion; which is pretty weighty the last time I checked. But what if our lives as followers of Jesus were marked by doing things we saw Him do in the scriptures? What if our words echoed Him by saying the things He said? What if our goal was to simply be like Him, rather than trying to prove our own righteousness to everyone around us? What if it wasn’t about being the greatest Christian, or following all the rules, or trying to be holy, and instead we just allowed the only One who is actually holy to infiltrate every part of our life? What if holiness is less about what we do and more about His presence in us and in our life?

Life is hard. But, in a world and culture that celebrates busyness and overstimulation—one that encourages grinding, hustle and mile-long to-do lists— Jesus gives a different invitation. He invites us to live from rest. He offers a peace that surpasses our understanding. We can trust… because He is trustworthy. Therefore, everything He invites us to do, the path He encourages us to follow Him on, is safe and good for us, even if it’s painful and hard. His yoke (His teachings and perspective) is meant to be easy in the same way that it’s easy for a child to trust a loving parent. We can rest knowing that He loves us and knows what’s best. He is with us. He longs to carry the weight of your world. He can take it. He is strong enough.

Oh, and when we do this, when we trust Him and fully giving Him our burdens, when we allow ourselves to agree with His ways and perspective instead of our own, this is actually worship and is speaking incredibly highly of Him and His Name.

So your encouragement for the week:

I pray that this week you allow the Lord to shift your perspective. Take on His yoke! Follow Him fully. Trust before you see and believe before you understand. I pray you allow His presence to infiltrate every part of your life. Even the hidden places that are hard to let Him into. And whatever heaviness you are carrying, I pray you come to the Lord and give it all to Him. Lay it down at His feet and come into agreement with Him in saying, “It’s Yours, Jesus. I need Your rest. I need Your peace. This is too heavy for me to carry. I trust You. You can have it, ‘It Doesn’t Belong to Me.’”