The Promise of Rest
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
I love the promise for today. It’s a great one for Friday. As with most promises there is a simple condition. We have a part to play. Our part is simply to come to Christ. In order to benefit from the promise, we must respond to His invitation to come. So how about it? Are you feeling tired, worn out and stressed? Listen closely to what Jesus says in today’s promise and you’ll experience real rest – not a rest of inactivity but a rest in activity. It begins when we come to Christ. The invitation to come to Jesus is the most profound honor and privilege given every one! It’s a personal invitation. Jesus didn’t come to start a religion. He came to offer us a relationship with God. He said, “Come to Me.”
Have you come to Christ? I’m not asking if you’ve come to church or Bible study. In fact, there were many religious scholars in Jesus’ day who had done both and yet were weary, worn out and burned out on religion but didn’t know what else to do or where else to go. Some even thought their knowledge of Scripture would save them. To them Jesus said, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.” John 5:39-40 (NIV)
Trusting your Bible for eternal life would be like trusting a flight schedule to get you from one destination to another. The flight schedule can’t fly you there. You can memorize it, write songs about it and sing them beautifully, even emotionally in an airport, but you will remain in the same spot until you board the plane. Only the plane can fly you and only Christ can give you life! “Come to Me.” Jesus says. Come to a person, not a principle or program or religion. Come to Me. This is intimately personal. The very God who made you longs to share a relationship with you. You were not only made by God; you were made for God. Have you come to Him? Even the invitation of God in the Old Testament was the same. In Isaiah 1:18 (NIV) God says, “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’”
Whether it’s running from God in sin or trying to catch up with God through good works, both will wear you out. So if you’re tired, worn out, burned out on religion, come to Christ. He invites you now. Listen to His invitation: “Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Who would possibly turn down an invitation like that?
Thank You God for the simplicity of this promise. When I come to Christ, I find rest! Help me to keep You first in my life. Teach me the unforced rhythm of grace as I keep company with You and experience the rest You promised while learning to walk with You and work with You.