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This audio is AI-narrated and may mispronounce some names and places.

Good morning, friends! Pull up a chair on the porch — Uncle Ricky, Biscuit, and Olive have a verse to share with you today.

Uncle Ricky: Good Friday morning, friends! Come on out on the porch — the week has been a long one, and Uncle Ricky has a word from Jesus Himself for anybody who is flat-out tired today.

Biscuit: That’s me, Uncle Ricky. I am tired in my feet, tired in my tail, tired in my… is there a word for tired everywhere all at once?

Olive: You even sighed in your sleep, Biscuit. I heard you from my branch! It was a big, long, tired sort of sigh.

Uncle Ricky: Ha! Well, Biscuit the raccoon, you just led us straight to today’s Scripture — and Olive the dove, you keep your eyes open, because there’s good news in it for you too. Listen to Jesus in Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 through 30: “Come unto me, all ye that labour 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 ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Biscuit: Heavy laden? That sounds like me yesterday carrying that whole sack of corn by myself. I wouldn’t let anybody help, because, you know, I’m the number one helper, so I figured I ought to be the number one carrier too.

Uncle Ricky: And how did that work out for you, son?

Biscuit: I made it about ten steps and sat down right in the dirt. The sack was fine. I was the one who was… laden. Heavily.

Olive: I tried to help! I can carry a whole… well, a whole kernel. Maybe two kernels on a good day!

Uncle Ricky: Ha! The size of the help isn’t the point, Olive — the heart behind it is. And look who is offering the help in this verse. Jesus doesn’t say, go figure it out, or try harder, or rest when you’ve earned it. He says, “Come unto me.” Come to a Person. Not to a plan, not to a bigger sack — to Him. Now isn’t that exciting? The rest our souls are craving has a name, and His name is Jesus.

Biscuit: Okay, but here’s my honest question. If I come to Him, does He just take the sack away? Because some sacks we still have to carry, don’t we? Work, and family, and… all of it?

Uncle Ricky: That’s a fine question, Biscuit, and Jesus answers it right there. He doesn’t say He’ll leave us with nothing to carry. He says, “Take my yoke upon you.” A yoke joins two together to pull the load side by side — and when you’re yoked with Jesus, you’re never pulling alone again. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light, because He is carrying the heavy end right beside you.

Olive: Oh, I love that! So rest doesn’t mean there’s no work. Rest means you’re not alone in the work!

Uncle Ricky: Exactly right, Olive. And listen to how He describes Himself: “for I am meek and lowly in heart.” He isn’t a hard boss standing over tired folks with a bigger list. He is gentle. He knows what a long week feels like. He invites the labouring and the heavy laden — that’s His word for folks carrying too much for too long — and He promises, “I will give you rest.” Rest is a gift He gives, friends, not a prize we have to win.

Biscuit: Hmm. So maybe my problem wasn’t that the sack was too heavy. Maybe my problem was trying to be the hero of the sack all by myself.

Uncle Ricky: Now you’re preaching, Biscuit! I’d call that a gift from God, wouldn’t you? We were never made to carry life alone. And here’s the sweetest part: He says, “ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Not just rest for tired feet — rest deep down inside, where the worrying and the striving live. A Friday kind of rest that lasts right through the weekend and into next week.

Olive: Then I’m coming too! Even if my load is only two kernels, I’m bringing them to Jesus!

Biscuit: Me too. And Uncle Ricky… next time I try to carry the whole sack by myself to prove I’m number one, would you remind me Jesus already offered to help?

Uncle Ricky: Son, I will remind you with love, every single time. Friends, let’s pray together. Father, thank You for this Friday, and thank You for Jesus, who invites tired people to come. Forgive us for carrying loads You never asked us to carry alone. Teach us to come to Him, to take His yoke upon us, and to find the rest He promised for our souls. Help every weary friend listening today to lay the heavy end in His hands. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Uncle Ricky: Come unto Him, friends. Whatever sack you’ve been carrying all week by yourself, you don’t have to carry it alone one more step — Jesus is right beside you, and His burden is light. Doesn’t that make you feel great?

— Uncle Ricky

A little something from the shop: our “Come Unto Me — Matthew 11:28” design is in the Uncle Ricky’s Bible shop now — on shirts, mugs, and more. Every purchase helps keep the daily devotion and the chapter readings coming to you free. Find it at https://unclerickysbible.com/shop/ — and thank you kindly for being part of this family.