Skip to main content

170. Rest, a Sacred Gift

Matthew 11:28-30
Key Verse:  "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28

In Isaiah 30:15, the Lord says to Israel: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it." How true that is of God's people still today.

We forget that rest is a commandment and we treat it like an option. We live busy, hurried lives. We cram as much into a day, into a life, as we can and then complain that we have too much to do. We even justify our busyness in ministry, blaming God for heaping so much responsibility on our backs. We forget, however, that this proclamation of Jesus is right after He has praised God for the successful ministry of His followers. Their burden was not burdensome because Jesus had helped them carry it.

It is the devil who cracks the whip and accuses us of sloth. It is satan who accuses us of not doing enough. It is satan who holds out the carrot on the end of the stick and says, "You could do more. Didn't He offer you His strength?" Satan can work you to death in the name of Jesus. But make no mistake, that is not Jesus' assigned burden for you to carry.

He promised you rest. He commanded that you rest. He even set aside a day specifically for you to rest. Too often, we will have none of it. Why? Well, it could be pride or ambition.  It could be insecurity or selfishness.  But none of these are from the Lord.

I've heard the fourth commandment, which says, "Remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy," as God's way of saying, "I want a date night with you my beloved!" I like that. When you get too busy to focus on Him you can bet you're too busy.

I am not talking about laziness here. Scripture is full of references to the goodness and importance of work.  So please don't think that these verses mean that you can just lay about the house, in Jesus’ name, and expect to be blessed. No, that's not the point. We worship the Lord with our work, but we also worship the Lord in our rest.

It is when we are resting that we can give Him our undivided attention. It is in our rest that we often hear His voice. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God." It's in the stillness, away from the clutter of our frenzied lives that God takes priority and our lives become refocused on Him.

What can you let go of to achieve the rest that Jesus desires for you in these verses? What can you let go of to put Him first? This is a serious matter that God wants to accomplish in your life. Take a step of faith. You don't have to do it all. Let go and let God give you the rest He longs to give.

Hymn: "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, "Come Unto Me and Rest" 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

258. "Remember, Always Remember!"

Exodus 12:1-30 Key Verse: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ordinance." Exodus 12:14 "Celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come." (Exodus 12:17) "And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" then tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:27) The original act was an act of worship as the first true act of freedom for the people of Israel. They had been brought to Egypt by Joseph during a time of famine so that through Joseph God could preserve their lives. ( Genesis 37 , & 39-50 ) After Joseph died, however, instead of heading back to C...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Little Light of Mine

Scripture: Psalm 130 Listen Link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. It’s the first Sunday of Advent. Today we lit one candle and heard the passage, in Isaiah 9, about the great light! We have heard that the great light is the child born to us on Christmas day. It is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Christmas is a day we will truly celebrate as we have for years and years, and our ancestors before us for centuries. Christmas is coming! Advent means coming! It is good to spend the next few weeks reflecting on all that it means for us. We begin from the depths of darkness. The world is still suffering the effects of sin. We are still suffering the effects of a world broken by sin. And not just the consequences of our own sins. According to Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The fires in California, the floods and storms on the East coast, and all the other natural disasters we hear ab...
Post a Comment
Read more

August 13 What Is Fitting

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—how much less for a slave to rule over princes! ~Proverbs 19:10   On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. ~Acts 12:21-23  Wow! Well, what in the world can there be to benefit us here? First of all, perhaps we should review the first Biblical definition of a fool, penned by no other than Solomon’s Father, David himself. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1) It is not fitting for the fool to live the blessed life. Why should they when they deny from whom all blessings flow?  King Herod was a fool. Now, just to be clear, this is not the Herod who ruled at Jesus’ birth and ordered the slaughter of the male children in Bethlehem. He ...
Post a Comment
Read more