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

October 27 Save the Glaze for the Bunny

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips of an evil heart. A malicious man disguises himself with his lips. But in his heart, he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it. If a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him. ~Proverbs 26:23-28 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

July 16 Thick Skinned Love

Whoever covers over an offence promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. ~Proverbs 17:9 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ~Matthew 18:15  The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ~1 Peter 4:7-8  Being offended seems to be the battle cry of the day. Instead of freedom of speech, everyone has the right not to be offended. If one is offended, then one has the right to exact vengeance on the offender because, of course, the offender KNEW that he or she was being offensive and just didn’t care. Is that how you see much of society behaving today?  There seems to be all of this offending and finger pointing that just keeps growing and growing. Nothing is being resolved, just more blame that grows louder a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Surprise!

Luke 24:14-35 Listen link is a video: https://www.facebook.com/gregory.dubois.547/posts/10157923265761195 For today’s message we are going to backtrack on the Scriptures a bit. Last week I talked about what happened in the evening of Easter day. Today’s story happened in the midday or afternoon of that day. But I wanted to save it for our Communion Sunday because Jesus breaks the bread for them at the end of this story and that is what we will be doing today at the end of the message when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. We’re talking about two of Jesus’ disciples who left Jerusalem to walk to Emmaus, perhaps the home of one or both of them. But Jesus walked with them and once they realized Jesus was alive, these two disciples hurried back to the rest of the disciples to alert them to the wonderful news. They arrived Just before Jesus showed up in the upper room. But before I go back and get into the story of the journey to Emmaus, I think it’s fun to notice that the ...
Post a Comment
Read more