Look Who it Was Random video

His Burden Is Light | Sterling C. Hilton | 2015

4,053 views · Published 30 October 2015 · 29:12 · Indexed 29 September 2026

Channel: BYU Speeches · 2015 · Education

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If we submit to God’s will, our afflictions will refine us and will expand our capacity to receive and carry more light and truth and love.

Sterling C. Hilton was chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations when he gave this devotional address on 13 October 2015.

Read the speech here:
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/sterling-c-hilton/his-burden-is-light/

Read more on overcoming adversity here:
https://speeches.byu.edu/collections/overcoming-adversity/

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"One of my favorite scriptures is found in Matthew 11. It is Christ’s universal invitation that speaks to each of us personally:

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. [Matthew 11:28–30]

I love this passage because in a few short verses Christ lays before us the path to eternal life. The overtones and undertones of these verses resonate with truth. First, the very fact that this is an invitation to “come,” to “take,” and to “learn” indicates an acknowledgment of and a respect for our agency. This respect for agency causes me to think of our premortal life, when we fought in our Father’s army to preserve and maintain the condition of agency in this life. It seems right that Christ, who is the linchpin in our Father’s plan of happiness, would acknowledge that it is our choice to come unto Him or not.

I also appreciate the simple promise of rest that is given. Having labored under sin and its heavy weight of guilt and separation from God, I am grateful for the rest and reconciliation Christ promises to those who come unto Him.

I find great meaning in the word yoke. It evokes so many important things about Christ’s path. A yoke is a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals are joined at the neck for the purpose of working together to pull a heavy load. A yoke is also a frame fitted to a person’s shoulders to carry a load in two equal portions. Whether we envision a double or a single yoke, the Savior is part of this image. We are either teamed with Him, side by side, or we are carrying His yoke. Yokes imply burdens or heavy loads; thus by taking His yoke upon us we are also taking upon us the load to which it is attached.

The sequence of first taking and then learning indicates that this isn’t an armchair exercise of the intellect. It is experiential. Only by experiencing Christ’s path for ourselves can we learn of Him at the level necessary to prove ourselves and to receive His gift.

I love that Christ doesn’t keep His learning objective hidden. He tells us quite plainly what we will be learning: “For I am meek and lowly in heart.” This statement picks up and echoes the recurring theme that Christ taught His disciples when He said, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). Christ’s path is a path of meekness and submission. We must learn to submit our wills to the Father’s. If we follow Christ’s path to the end, we won’t just find rest, but we will “find rest unto [our] souls.” This phrase echoes the numerous promises of eternal life that are found in the scriptures and that are given to all who choose to receive it.

I confess that the last verse—“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”—has been wonderfully problematic for me, since I have experienced tribulation somewhat regularly along Christ’s path of discipleship. You probably aren’t like me, but I have been known to mutter under my breath, “I wonder if I can sue for false advertising. How is this easy and light?” Of course that is only when I am feeling a bit ornery. I fully believe that there is no deception in Christ, so I know He meant what He said. I just haven’t fully understood it.

As I have pondered this phrase and tried to reconcile it with all of my experiences, I have come to see it in a new way. It seems that the previous verse holds the key. What if Christ’s yoke is the Father’s will? Plain. Simple. Easy. And what if we consider light as a noun instead of as an adjective? We don’t often think of light as a burden; however, remember the scriptures that teach that where much is given much is required? Receiving light brings duty and responsibility. Some scriptural synonyms for light are truth, glory, and love.

When I read verse 30 in this way, it takes on a whole new meaning for me: “For my yoke is the Father’s will, and my burden is light, truth, glory, and love.”"
–Sterling C. Hilton

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