Finding Rest for Our Souls
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28)
Mt. 11:25-30; Ex. 33:14; Ps. 23:2, 116:7; Isa. 53:4; Mt. 8:17; Mk. 6:31
What Is God Saying?
Perhaps the sweetest words ever spoken are those in which God invites the lost and the heavy-laden to come to him. And perhaps the sweetest discovery is that in coming to Him we ‘find rest for our souls.’ Our Lord uses the analogy of a yoke. To do work around the farm or to carry heavy materials from one place to another, an ox or a pair of oxen would be fitted with a yoke, a heavy block of wood, not always finely tuned, but still a means of connecting the beast to a wagon or a plough. If anything brought home being heavy-laden or struggling with a burden, it would be this image.
Coming to Jesus and working out His will would be a different kind of yoke. It is easy because it fits and because the work being done results in joy. Such is the rest that Jesus gives, not slumbering or swinging in a hammock in a quiet garden on a warm summer afternoon (though that does sound nice!), but being where He wants us and working as He directs That's real work and real rest at the same time.
How Does This Apply To Us?
‘Come to me’ is the theme of this passage. In Matt. 11:27, 28 Jesus invites us to come for two reasons: first, to know the Father, the Lord of heaven and earth, and second, to receive rest for our souls. The combination of coming to Jesus and knowing God through Him does, indeed, give rest to our souls. Frantic searching, restless wandering, working in a way that we hope would make God love us, or just going through the motions of an existence can make us very tired. The Son of God has come that we might come to Him. Jesus offers rest to our restless souls. He has come that we might know the Father through Him (11:27). There is no rest short of that. That is why Matt. 11:27, 28 belong together. The way to know God the Father is to know Jesus Christ, the beloved Son. The one who can reveal the Father to us invites us to come to Him. We are not told to go through laborious efforts, to perform a long list of do’s and don'ts, or to struggle up a long hill. Jesus simply says, Come and find rest. Live as I want you to live and you will find the yoke is easy (well fitted) and the burden is light.
Pray With Me
Lord, I come in the strong name of Jesus, in response to His invitation. I come to receive that which He alone can give. As I would labor for Him, I would also rest in Him. Lord, not all of my laboring can be traced to my loving obedience to Him. There are times when the burdens of life are of my own making and I find myself laboring for causes that are contrary to His purpose for my life.
I come in the name of Him who said, ‘I will give you rest.’ In Your name I ask for it; by Your grace, I claim it. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
These are simple, gentle, cheering and powerful words, ‘Come to me.’ We come to express gratitude for His mercy, to find solutions to our problems, to bring help to a worthy cause, to shed light on our path, to calm a troubled spirit, to heal a wounded conscience, to gather strength for a task that seems beyond our ability-in a word, ‘to find rest for our souls.’ Come to Him for rest and then go on for Him with joy. That's prayer at its best!
