Rest

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

Throughout the Old Testament, God sent forth the prophets to call the nation of Israel into corporate repentance. And prophet after prophet was rejected by an apostate Israel. So, by the time Jesus arrives on the scene He’s no longer calling the Jews to corporate repentance. Instead, He’s now offering a personal invitation to people who are weary and heaven laden.

Notice, He says, “Come to Me...” He doesn’t say, “Go to church!” “Get your life in order.” Start obeying the Law like a good person. He simply invites a specific type of person to personally come to Him for help. He didn’t call the wealthy, the prosperous, the popular or the over-achievers. He calls the weary and heavy laden.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,” Who exactly is He referring to? Those who have come to realize that they will never be good enough, rich enough, have enough or know enough. Those who are tired of trying to make it on their own. Those who have come to realize that Egypt is nothing more than a pit and Pharaoh is nothing more than a task master. They’re tired of trying to find their worth and value by what they “do”. To those folks, Jesus says, “Come to Me, and I will give you rest.”

My prayer is that as we wade each day in the ebb and flow of a global pandemic, that we would come to realize how easy it is to live for the wrong things. That what truly matters is our personal relationship with Jesus, who says to us when we grow weary and are heavy laden, “Come to me, all 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.”

Matthew 11:28–30

Sometimes it takes a major change in our lives before we realize just how far we’ve drifted from our time with Jesus Christ. Only as we come to Him each day, can we experience real peace and joy, real contentment and rest. It has nothing to do with “what we do”, it’s has everything to do with “who we are in Him”.

Pastor Greg Sempsrott