I imagine that most of us are a bit weary of the political environment these days. I think the Israelites were weary of the authorities that ruled over them in the days prior to Jesus’ coming. We know they were looking for the Messiah, but they probably wanted someone to come in and clean house: get rid of the bad guys and usher in the good guys. They wanted someone to set them free from the harsh treatment and allow their land to prosper. Sound familiar?
Yes, I think we all want someone to be in control of our world – as long as we agree with how they will run things!
Jesus did not come to the world 2000 years ago to destroy the bad guys, He came to make a way for all mankind to live a life with Him for all eternity. He came to give us inner peace – not world peace. He came to take on the punishment for all mankind so we can be forgiven and receive new life.
The word government means rule and dominion. Isaiah is saying that God sent Jesus to govern/rule our life. The burden of our daily life is on His shoulders. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says,
Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.
Jesus never intended for us to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. He is our burden bearer. He called us to cast our burdens on Him. We get to walk through our life connected to Jesus as He carries our burden, guides our steps, becomes our wisdom, peace, joy, strength, adequacy, and sufficiency. We are not designed to this weight ourselves.
It is Jesus’ job to guide us through life. He never intended for us to live from our own knowledge – just as God did not intend Adam and Eve to eat from their own Tree of Knowledge. He intended us to live from the Tree of Life.
Jesus came to give us a new spiritual birth and become our source for living. He knew we could never live under the burden of life without Him.
One day Jesus will come and He will reign on earth, but for now we can choose to have Him reign in our life - every minute of every day. God wants to be our life, our burden bearer, our source for our physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. There is one catch. First we have to receive His gift of new life and then we trust Him with it. That means we do not trust in our own knowledge, power, or other abilities. Even though God has given us intellect, abilities, talents and skills, we still cannot run our own life better than God. Apart from the Spirit of God that resides in us, we are not capable of living an abundant life. Yes, we can do good things and have material success, but we will never have the peace of God unless He governs our way.
He wants to give us abundant life as we submit to His love, grace and power. What a great gift we have when we cast our vote for Jesus to reign in our life!