COME AND REST

Come to Me, all you 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.

Matthew 11:28,29

I can remember as a kid when driving out to the farm of relatives that no one ever called to let the relatives know we were coming. Today, it seems appointments have to be made to visit anyone. I recall driving up the small hill to Uncle Bob's house. I'm not sure my mother even knocked on the door. Sometimes she would open the door a crack and call “Anybody home?” From somewhere in the house would come the reply, “Come on in, take the load off your feet and rest awhile.” I don't how many times I heard something similar when we would visit someone in our home town.

In those days, one was invited to “come on in.” Jesus gave the same invitation in the verses above. He simply said, “Come to Me.” For those who aren't believers, they can't begin to know how it feels to have that kind invitation said to us from Jesus, our Savior, Friend and everything else we could mention. I've never been invited to the home of a REALLY popular person, but the King and Creator of the Universe invites you and me to “Come.”

In these verses, Jesus already knows we are labor weary and carrying burdens that are weighing us down in unbelievable ways. Friends we visited were saying to us to “take the load off your feet.” That simply meant, “Sit down.” It always felt good to sit in one of someone else's chairs. They always seemed to feel better than those we had at home. I felt good to shift the load of a weary body onto a comfy chair or couch.

“Rest awhile” has always sounded good to me. I can be lazy at times and it doesn't take much for a chair to capture my body's attention. However, resting isn't something we do much. Resting isn't just the process of sleeping. Real rest is when we come to a complete stop, do something to rest our minds whether reading, listening to some good music, jogging (fat chance) and even praying. We need more often to take God up on his invitation to simply go to Him. That may mean prayer, spending time in the Word or just sitting and meditating on the things of God. So let's take advantage of God's invite...it's the best yet.

Father, I can't imagine You would want to spend time with me, let alone healing all of my damage and then giving me a time of rest that really counts. Thank You for Jesus Who gave His all, that I might find my rest and delight in Him. In His name...Amen