When I’m Tired And Need Rest

In review of Matthew 11:28 it says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Bottom Line:

All who are weary and burdened, come to Jesus, for He will give you rest.

What this means to me:

Jesus invites me to come to Him, When I give him all of my heavy burdens and weariness He provides me rest.

Todays verse comes from the last part of Matthew 11. In it, Jesus promises rest for our souls. Jesus however starts out by denouncing the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn't repented of their sins and turned to God. He indicates that it will be worse for them because they saw and it did not change their hearts. Jesus then thanks the father for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Jesus tells us that the Father has entrusted everything to Him. No one truly knows the Father except the Son and to those the Son choose to reveal himself to. Then Jesus invites us to, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, for He will give us rest. We are to take his yoke upon us, and let him teach us. Because He is humble and gentle at heart, and in Him we will find rest for their souls. For his yoke is easy to bear, and the burden He gives us is light.

From what I understand, in the Old Testament times, to know someone meant more than head knowledge; it implied an intimate relationship. For anyone to know God, God must reveal himself to that person, by the Son's choice. How fortunate I am that Jesus has chosen to clearly reveal God to me, as well as his truth.

The yoke that Jesus refers is much like the yoke, a heavy wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of an ox or oxen. It is attached to a piece of equipment the oxen are to pull. A person may be carrying heavy burdens of (1) sin, (2) excessive demands, (3) oppression and persecution, or (4) weariness in the search for God. Jesus frees people from all these burdens. The rest that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the end of all labor. A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose.

Jesus doesn't offer a life of luxurious ease- the yoke is still an oxen's tool for working hard. But it's a shared yoke, with weight falling on bigger shoulders than my own. Someone with more pulling power is up front helping. Suddenly I am participating in life's responsibilities with a great Partner-and now that frown can turn into a smile, and that grip into a song.

So, when I find myself exhausted, and life is dragging me down, I can turn to God who says “Come to Me If you're tired”