Finding Rest

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

This invitation is given to two classes of people — those who are weary, and those who are burdened. Those who are weary are those conscientious, sincere, earnest men and women, boys and girls, who are trying to be good, who recognize that God is in control of the world, and that ultimately they must answer for their life before him. They know that good actions and good attitudes have certain value in protecting and delivering them from destructive forces in life, so they are trying to live good, moral lives. There are many who obey the law, who try to stay out of trouble, and hope thereby to please God. They are doing the best they can. But they are finding that this is dull, hard work. It is to these that Jesus says, Come to me.

The second class are those who are burdened. These are the people who have given themselves to pleasure and to wild living, and already they are sick and tired of it. They have wrung themselves out and there is not much left. Their nights are an empty round of empty pursuits with empty people, and their days are an endless battle with the hangover of guilt and despair. These are folk who are heavily burdened with the emptiness, the meaninglessness, and the frustration of life. To these also Jesus says, Come to me and I will rest you. Literally, I will relieve you; the word has in it the thought of the lifting of a burden.

Rest comes to both groups by realizing that what they are seeking to do, Jesus Christ has already done. He has done it in their place. Are you laboring to be good enough for God? Then you need to know that God stands ready to credit you with all Christ's goodness, that you can throw away your own filthy rags of righteousness. Your efforts to be good enough fall far, far short of what God requires. You know it, and he knows it, but you do not need them. God stands ready in Jesus Christ to credit you with his righteousness. That is the glory of the cross. It is a place of exchange, where what I am is placed on him, and what he is, is given to me. What a relief this is!

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the realization that only as I take your yoke upon me do I ever fulfill your intention for me. Teach me to disbelieve the lie that suggests your yoke will bring restriction, narrowness, and lack of liberty.