Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
It’s been said that what we all have in common our need for love, longing for friendship, looking for acceptance, hoping for recognition, finding peace etc; a constant restlessness to make up for what is lacking in this sin cursed world.
I believe you could sum up what everyone longs for with one word: “rest“.
Rest from investing in friendships only to have them fall apart. Rest from wishing you were loved unconditionally or without having to earn it. Rest from struggling with sin. Rest from the inevitable betrayals and disappointments of life. Rest from physical ailments. Rest from working hard for income only to see it taken away thousand different ways. Rest from all the ways that life falls short of what it is was originally meant to be when God created us.
Even the Apostle Paul himself – who was granted a visit to Heaven – struggled with the desire to find rest in the Lord‘s presence but knowing there was still more to do in this life. That is the great hope and gift that Jesus gives us by His sacrifice: the gift of eternal rest. Sadly most people will not accept His gift because they don’t like the terms and conditions.
Jesus said, “Come to me all of you who feel burdened with life and I will give you rest.” Has there ever been a person who at times is not heavy laden? It seems the older you get the weight of life accumulates and you understand the heavy burden that is allotted to us all compliments of the sin curse… and long ever more earnestly for eternal rest.
Rest. Sure sounds good to me.
Think It Over: I empathize with those who don’t know of the rest Jesus offers both now, and in eternity. How inevitable it is that life will very often become “heavy laden”, sometimes a crushing. Understanding this is 1) temporary and 2) eternal rest is the Lord’s gift to us, certainly makes the burden more bearable now.