MATTHEW 11:28-30 – 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.”
THEME OF THE DAY: COME TO JESUS. Today’s scripture is the only place in scripture the Lord describes His heart. He says, “I am gently, lowly (humble) in heart.” This truth is staggering to the mind and reveals the tenderness and approachability of the Lord Jesus. In the text is also the greatest invitation ever to grace the human mind and heart. Our Lord is inviting us, even in the form of command, to receive what we yearn for, were created for, and only He provides – rest of soul, mind, heart, and contentment on life. But there is a condition and path to follow. We will take them in order.
The condition for anyone to know the emotional and spiritual rest Jesus offers is we must feel our need. No one comes to Christ unless they are keenly aware they need Christ, and not just to escape His wrath and hell. No, the people Jesus describes, those who “labor and are heavy laden”, are folks feeling the weight of sin, the burdens of life, and know they need God to relieve them of both. And Jesus makes it clear, no one else will be received. Not the religionist, not the moralist, only the broken who meet the condition. We come as we are in all our messiness and brokenness to receive the rest our Lord offers.
Now the path. Pay attention to what Jesus doesn’t say. Christ doesn’t say “Come to religion.” He commands, “Come to My Person.” Here is where Christianity is unique. We are not a people conforming to an ethic, adhering to a list of religionist dos and don’ts, though both of those are true, they don’t define us. What defines us is our relationship with the living God, a living relationship that actually knows this God – Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth (Hosea 6:3). And it is a relationship that grows deeper and deeper in spiritual intimacy.
In the third chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he reveals his heart passion and purpose in life – That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (Philippians 3:10). And that is to become ours as well. It will if we keep coming to Jesus, to His Person, and learn more and more of His wonderful glory as we behold Him and are transformed into His image – And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).
PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I try to find in the world what is only found in Your Son.”
QUOTE: “In Christ Alone is not only a great hymn but the only source of purpose, contentment and satisfaction in life.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim