The Lord will give you rest

FIRST CHRISTIAN

By Bruce Humes

Pastor

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” So what does it mean when Jesus says “Come to me?” Pretty simple word, for the most part it means “to be brought toward,” but scripturally it means much more.

In John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger,” Jesus is speaking of the spiritual food that we as spiritual beings need. He is speaking of spiritual hunger, this hunger will be satisfied because when we come to Christ, our spiritual hunger will be met. Jesus goes on to say “and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” Jesus inserts “believes,” which connects us to “come” meaning that coming to him and believing in him are synonymous. Picking back up in verse 28, we see the benefit of coming to him, “all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” All of us labor, (feel fatigued) and experience a heavy laden, (feel overloaded, overburdened) in the physical burdens we encounter each day, and the Lord can certainly refresh us physically, but he’s more concerned about the spiritual fatigue, (labor) overload, and burdens we experience because of sin in our lives. Notice the call is to “all” but only those who openly admit that they are labored and overburdened by sin will benefit from the promise (gift) of rest by coming to him. When I think of spiritual rest, Ephesians 2:8 comes to my mind, “For by grace (God’s unmerited favor) you have been saved (experienced salvation) through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” This for me depicts God’s true rest, and true peace. Jesus goes on to say in 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you (submit) and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest (salvation) for your souls.” Without Christ there is no rest for the soul, it is in a constant state of unrest, stress and anxiety.

Jesus finishes with verse 30 saying, “For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” Again emphasising the strict and burdensome requirements of the law, which according to scripture brings us all to a knowledge of sin, and guilt before God When we come to Jesus and give him our burdens things become easy, and our burdens become light. How? He took them to the cross, Paul explains in Romans 8:3, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin; he condemned sin in the flesh.” Why? Because he loved us! All we have to do is “come to him.”

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