Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matt. 11:28-30
Jesus promises us rest. It is a rest and a rest for our souls. For the next 2 days we will look at various times in the Scriptures where Jesus Himself took time to rest. I encourage you to examine your own life and consider if you need to also take time for the rest that He promises.
- During a time of grief. Matthew 14:12-13 The context is John the Baptist, first cousin and friend of Jesus, has just been beheaded. John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.We find rest for our souls when we take time to grieve. In this case Jesus’ friend and cousin John the Baptist has suffered a horrible death. Jesus wept over the death of Lazarus even though He knew He would raise Lazarus from the dead. [John 11:1-44] Grief may also be over some other loss—a friendship that is broken, a job opportunity that is denied, a reflection over a bad or sinful decision that we have made. Grief, whether because of death or some other loss, is important and a part of life here on Earth. And although we do not grieve as those who have no hope, the key is we still need time, and rest, to grieve just as Jesus did.
- During a time of physical exhaustion. John 4:6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. This is the story of the Samaritan woman and although it is clearly showing that the Gospel is for everyone, the verse does state that Jesus was tired from the journey and therefore stopped and sat down by the well. Jesus enters into a conversation but is sitting by the well because He is tired. He even asks the Samaritan woman to draw water for Him to drink. When we are tired, we need to rest. We need sleep, we need to stop, and we need to nourish our bodies to find nourishment for our souls. For me, it is sitting on the couch with a mystery book or falling asleep watching a movie. Jesus teaches us to physically rest even in the midst of ministry all around us. A better Pastor, or shepherd of the flock, is one who takes time off to rest.
- During the busiest times of life and ministry. This one is surprising, but for me is a lesson easier learned in Nigeria than in Canada. When you live in a culture where the needs around you are never ending and easy to see, it is easy to burn out. It is much more subtle in our culture where there is a strong work ethic, workers are worthy of their wages and therefore expected to go above and beyond and whether being a workaholic in the work world or a burned-out ministry worker, it sneaks up on us. Yet the news about Him spread all the more so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:15, 16 What work could be more important than that of having the power to heal all sickness? Yet here we see Jesus withdrawing to lonely places despite the crowds and demands, and when He gets there, He comes to God in prayer.
Today we have 3 examples of when Jesus pulled aside to rest. If He needed to rest as the Son of God, how much more do we need to as mere men. In grief, in the midst of successful ministry and in times of physical exhaustion, may we remember and follow His example of rest.
Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
Our song for today is O Come to the Altar by Elevation Worship.