Matt. 11:28-30–Jesus Gives Rest

Matthew 11:28-30–"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

There is no doubt that it could be confusing to consider that what brings rest is to take Christ's yoke upon us.  It is then of great value to understand what Jesus means of when He speaks of a 'yoke' and 'burden' but it is of even greater value to realize that these things are light and easy.  The heart of this matter is that Jesus gives rest to those who are weak and heavy laden, however, it is tremendously liberating to know that to receive this rest involves a simply posture of praise: come to Christ and receive from Him rest.  It is about submission and deference to He who is.  Although it may seem odd, my most immediate and animal response to such information is to take a large, relieving breath.

Thank You, Lord!!!

Matt. 11:28–Jesus Gives Rest

Matthew 11:28–"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

This is quite a statement for Jesus to make.  Jesus does not say that He knows where those who are heavy burdened may find rest, as if He were going to point them to a special vacation resort or something.  He doesn't say that this rest is about a place or an action at all.  No, He says that He will give people rest.  In no mean or ambiguous terms, Jesus is claiming to be the true source of rest to any and all that would come to Him.  Again, this is quite a statement!

Can He give rest to us?  Does He? Do we believe Him?  

This seems to be a good place to end this particular dialogue, simply putting forth these questions for us to ponder.  Yes, Jesus is the true source of rest; yes, if we come to Him in faith He gives us this rest; and yes, He gives this rest to all who would come to Him.

Let us think about that when we feel labored and heavy laden!

Rest in God

Psalm 62:1–"Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him."

As the weekend approaches I am reminded of the quest(s) for relaxation.  From entertainment to leisure, and inebriation to sleep, there are numerous possibilities in the world for us to find rest in.  And while many sources of rest or relaxation are amoral, lacking any moral content whatsoever, some forms of rest are less sources of rest than they are sources of vice.  Additionally, even those forms of relaxation that serve no hedonistic purposes are, by definition, fleeting: there is no lingering effect once the re-charge has worn off, so to speak.  Think of the best vacation you've ever had: how long did it take when you got back home before you were dog-tired and needed another reprieve for recovery?

But, as this verse asserts, God is to be our souls' rest, He is to be the true and eternal source of our restoration.  It is, thus, better for us to seek the rest that is eternal, which is found in God and God alone. Let us then strive to find our rest in God, understanding that His rest is best (pardon the rhyme but I just couldn't help myself!)

A Day of Rest

The Bible begins with God creating the universe in six days.  On the seventh day, however, God rests and He commands that a day be set aside for rest, that we would take a Sabbath day that is dedicated solely for the task of rest and replenishment.  Despite this being God's design from the beginning, many humans have distorted this concept.  Even Christians can fall prey to the concept of neglecting a day set aside for the expressed purpose of resting.

But this was never meant to be the case.  Eternally speaking, Christ is our eternal Sabbath, our final and definitive rest from the toil of life.  However, in the mortal sense, we are meant to take time on a regular basis that is expressly and purposely set aside for rest.  In the hustle and bustle of modern life, though, this can seem like more of an imposition than a productive endeavor.  Yet we are made, designed by God with a built-in need for recharging.  This is the purpose of the Sabbath and we would do well and wisely to set aside time for this vital task of replenishment in the tumult of daily life.

Take up Jesus' Yoke for Rest

Jesus said this in Matthew 11: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  (Matt 10:28-30).

Many people quote the first part of this passage, more commonly spoken as this: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Unfortunately, this neglects the weightier part of this passage, chiefly, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me..."

Jesus is talking about peace and He is talking about peace, but He is not saying that we should lay down from work or rest from our labors.  On the contrary!  Jesus is exhorting people to come to Him so as to rest in their work, true work that is found in Him.  This is what He means.  Jesus uses unambiguous language here.  He is, actually, telling us that we will work but that our peace and rest will come through the work we do for Him.  Let us always remember this if ever we feel tired and broken down!

Working because its Right

Over the course of the past couple of decades, America has seen a dramatic change in its work force.  The increase in the technology of distractions (video games, entertainment, etc.) and the growing sense of entitlement has created generations of Americans who either do not know how to work or just don't want to.  It is more than the concept of rest in relation to work.  Rather it is the idea of the value of work.

For starters, there is a significant difference between resting after work, and deciding to be lazy and slothful before ever working at all.  This is a major issue of extreme importance, and if we miss this one, we will never live our lives to the extent that God has for us.

In reality, work and the whole concept of work goes back to the very beginning of time.  When Adam was created, God ordained him for work.  Work marks the days, six on and the seventh off.  It is also work that informs life with purpose and intent.  If we understand that work has not deviated from its origins, then we can begin to understand that to skew our concepts of work isnothing less than disbelief and, dare I say, sin.

For this, the writer of Ecclesiastes, a wise man with wisdom to share, has much to say in this regard:

"Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil which one toils with under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot (Ecc. 5:18)."

Although this is a single passage of Scripture describing the value of work, particularly the worth of enjoying one's work, it is by no means an isolated instance in which work is esteemed for its value.  Instead, this is just a simple and overarching reality of human life.  We, as humans, are made to work just as work has been made for us.  Assessing the purposes and reasons behind are more than this dialogue permits, suffice to say that it is God's will that we work and work with diligence and enjoyment.

Unfortunately, there have been misconceptions of what constitutes enjoyment in our culture.  Our world has misconstrued enjoyment to mean something less-satisfying and more instantly-gratifying, to the detriment of the good that comes from having to work for enjoyment, namely perseverance and character.  Should it be any wonder, then, why the world is inundated with people who lack character and inner fortitude?  Let us then take joy in the toils under the sun all the days of our lives, knowing that God has made us for this and He has purposes for us through it!

Using the Weekend to Rest

In 2000, George Clooney was interviewed for Mens Journal.  Much of the article dealt with Clooney's increasingly obsessive work ethic.  He would often miss sleep in order to keep up with his hectic and overstuffed schedule.  It was clear from the interview that Clooney was very concerned with his legacy as an actor to the degree that he often put his health in danger for the purposes of getting things done.  As a result, many of Clooney's friends were worried for him as he was often stressed, tired, and disheveled. Clooney had a real problem with the whole concept of rest.  Sadly, Clooney is not alone in his concern.

Once again, like the 51 other times of the year, the weekend has arrived.  For many, the weekend is that time of the week when the list of housing projects and other procrastinated tasks that have been compiled over the last weeks is whittled down.  For others, the weekend is an excuse to be cast of the reasonable responsibilities of adult life and to let the hair down to get a little wild.  But the weekend serves another purpose that is often neglected in contemporary life: rest.

Rest is one of those strange but necessary factors of life.  Our bodies need rest to function properly as much as they need food and water.  It is because of this necessity that rest was inaugurated at the beginning of time.  On the seventh day, God determined for there to be rest.  He did not and does not need rest because His strength and stamina is perfect and eternal.  Instead, God instituted a day of rest for our benefit.

Jesus also speaks of rest.  He says that He gives rest to the weak, the weary, and the burdened (Matt. 11:28).  Though Jesus is certainly speaking of rest in spiritual terms for the most part, He is also echoing Psalm 23, which depicts God guiding man to rest by His hand.  Truly, rest derives from God's gloriously faithful hand of providence.  When we recognize this truth, then we will understand that to not rest would be akin to rebellion from God's design.  Therefore, as another weekend comes and passes, let us take time to rest in the glory of God!

Rest for the Weary

Paraphrased from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings:

In preparations for his one-hundred-and-an-eleventh birthday, Bilbo Baggins was sitting in his kitchen with his good friend, the wise wizard, Gandalf.  Gandalf was astonished at how young the old hobbit appeared, despite his apparent age.  After some brief conversation, Bilbo, became vulnerable with his friend and commented on his age, "I'm tired, Gandalf.  Like butter scraped over too-much bread."

Unlike fictitious hobbits, humans do not need to be one-hundred-and-eleven years old to feel burnt-out, spread thin across the bread of this life.  In the hustling bustle of contemporary culture, where working to exhaustion is the subsumed norm of life, taking a moment to recollect and breathe is an utter necessity.  However, Scripture speaks of God as the source of respite amidst the storms of fatigue.

While it could be useful to ask why are we burnt-out, in an effort to assess whether the various sources of our weariness are in fact worthy in themselves, for the purposes of this brief discussion we will assume, rather, that we are tired and look to God's Word for relief from the desperate tiredness of modern life.

At the onset, God must be the starting point in any conversation of rest.  The Lord God Almighty created the whole of creation.  And, in His infinite and perfect wisdom, He created day and night, a regular cycle.  This cycle lends itself perfectly to man who is built with a need to rest.  Moreover, He instituted a day of rest, a sabbath, so that man may find relief.  These are not coincidental or inconsequential truths; God has factored our need for relief from work into creation itself.

Additionally, weariness is the fertile soil of endurance, and it is endurance that grows into character of the godliest pedigree (Rom. 5:1-5; James 1:2-4, 12).  Again, the purpose of this dialogue is not to address the reason for tiredness, although it will suffice to say that weariness arising from wickedness or sinful activity will breed no endurance and cannot be soil for character growth.

The point is that God has made Himself to be our rest.  He has fashioned creation for our rest and has made us to rest.  Unfortunately, from time to time, we find ourselves in seasons that require us to regularly work ourselves into utter exhaustion.  During these prolonged periods of tiredness, it is essential that we remember to rely on God for our rest and relief.  Let us then hold fast in faith to the Holy Lord so as to be filled with relief even amidst the trials of endurance!

Christian Contentment

One of the fundamental quests of life is the search for contentment.  Entire lives could be expended in the longing for contentment.  Plainly speaking, contentment is a state of being, particularly, the state of being content.  The fundamental definition of contentment is dense because it encompasses a litany of simultaneous states: peace, joy, and hope.  All of these states fall under one large umbrella, namely the knowledge of the Lord.

Because of the depth of content in true contentment, the source of contentment must be the Lord.  Any sense of contentment that is not derived from the Lord, is thus but an echo of true contentment.  Instead, to be content requires, above all else, an intimate dependence on the Lord based on trust in who He is.  When we are content, we are fully satisfied and thankful at who God is and what He has done for us.

There are a number of relevant Scripture verses, however, a few warrant particular insight into the nature of contentment.  The first is Philippians 4:11-13, in which Paul describes that he has learned that the source of contentment has nothing to do with the circumstances and happenings of life but has everything to do with the Lord and who He is.  This is the very essence of contentment.

Understanding that the Lord is the provider and securer, the sustainer for all of life is the essential starting point for any discussion of contentment.  Contentment is reliant on the Lord.  To be content is to recognize that the Lord has everything under His control and that all is made secure in Him.  Thus, let us look to the Lord to be our contentment!

God's Rhythmic Creation

God, in His infinite wisdom and perfect creativity, designed all of creation with built-in cycles.  There are years, seasons, weeks, days, and a number of other measurements of time and change.  God is a God of rhythm and restoration.  Even in the original seven-day week instituted at creation, each day served its own purpose and function.  Unfortunately, as a result of sin, all of creation is less than its original perfection and the intended rhythm of life has become fragmented.

The resulting symptoms of the fragmentation of life from its intended solidarity are plenty but probably the most devastating is the apparent separation between a splintered humanity and an infinitely whole God. Humanity is rife with compartmentalization that prevents our whole selves from connecting to the Lord in true relationship.

We can become easily overwhelmed in the fragmentation of the world.  The result is that we are constantly uneasy and lacking the peace that we have been given in Christ.  This is evidence of a disconnect between what we believe and what we experience.  Part of this disconnect is that we have lost touch with God's intended cycle of life, instituted at the dawn of creation.

The writer of Ecclesiastes paints a picture of ideal life under heaven, a life where there is a season and time for everything (Ecc. 3:1-8).  The writer, most likely Solomon, is defining what could best be described as the ideal life under the sun.  Simply stated, the ideal life is making the most of every moment with all wisdom so that the time we have is used for what is supposed to be used for.

Today is the day, the only day that we have to live.  This is why we are to be present today in worship and in praise (Psa. 118:24).  Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery, but today is a gift; that's why we call it the present (thank you, Kung Fu Panda).  The point is simple: not to live in the past or spend too much time thinking about tomorrow.  Today is the day.

God created the whole of the universe with cycles and seasons.  When we align ourselves with God's seasons and His cycles, we position ourselves for right relationship with Him.  There is a rhythm to this world.  A rhythm of work and rest, of pain and healing.  All of creation sings God's glory.  The rhythm of life is both biblical and desirable.  Let us press on to fall into the rhythm of God's creation for the purpose of right relationship with the Lord Almighty!

Powerful Music

Music is powerful.  The pairing of lyric and melody to rhythm gives music a unique power to communicate in a way that uses both intellect and heart.  Music acts as a highway connecting the mind with the heart.  Thus music has a way to communicate complex ideas and emotions in an understandable way.  Moreover, because music engages both the heart and the head simultaneously, the soul is inevitably engaged, like if you shake the flowers you're shaking the root.

Additionally, music serves distinct theological purposes for both worship and study.  The most obvious usage of music is in worship.  Throughout the Scripture, especially in Psalms, music acts as the preferred medium for praise and worship.  To be sure, music's pairing of intellect and emotion make it the perfectly tuned instrument to praise the Lord using the entire person.

God requires that we worship Him with all of our hearts, minds, and souls; it is a requirement of worship.  Music is the medium that God has designed for worship.  Certainly music is not the only mode God created for worship, however, it is one of the most effective.

Not only does music serve as a means to worship, it also is a great method for expressing complex theology in the simplest of ways.  It is for this reason that Paul exhorts believers to sing to one another in spiritual songs, hymns, and psalms (Col. 3:16).  Believers are to teach each other about the Lord.  This requires that we are talking about God and the things of God.  Certain things of God can be more than slightly complex, they can be downright difficult to understand.  Thankfully, God has given us music as a means to simplify the complex so as to make the challenging accessible.

Because of the uses and Scriptural emphasis of music as worship, the purpose of this dialogue is to encourage us to find songs that can serve these two purposes, worship and theology, in our own lives. The goal is to memorize songs that speak theology to us so that we can take ownership of the theology.  Furthermore, when we find ourselves amidst struggle, we will have songs to comfort us and to teach us the theology that we might need most in those tempest moments.  Let us then search out music that points us to God.

Rest for the Redeemed

Rest, a time of refreshment, relaxation, and recovery.  The seal of the Mosaic covenant was the keeping of the sabbath. The sabbath represented the seventh-day rest of creation.  On every seventh day the Israelites were reminded of God's sovereign work of creation.  Thus, the cycle of the week was a constant reminder of the Lord and the people's dependence on His provision and sovereignty.

The sabbath day was a day of rest but it served as much more than a mere "day off."  It was a theological construct.  On the sabbath, no work was to be done so that the people could focus on the Lord and His providence.  Sabbath rest was a requirement and a seal of the covenant but it was to be surpassed by another, Promised Rest, that was to accompany the Promised Land.  The Promised Land was to be paired with a Promised Rest.  Unfortunately, due to covenant infidelity, the Israelites never saw the fulfillment of the Promised Rest.

This understanding of rest was amended under the New Covenant.  The sabbath, and its theology, was changed by a new law, the law of Christ and grace.  Under this new law, the rest for believers is not cyclical in the same sense but it is determined and bestowed by the Lord (Matt. 11:28-29).  Rest is no longer dependent on the cycle of the week but is a constant state of being, a state of rest.  Our rest is wholly dependent on the Lord alone.  It is our reliance on the Lord that gives us our rest.

Additionally, the Promised Rest under Christ has a future fulfillment much like the Israelites' rest had a future fulfillment in the Promised Land.  For Christians, rest has its ultimate realization in the eternal presence of the Holy Lord.  This means that the rest we have now is only a part but to be made whole later in the Lord.

Rest, defined, refers to a time of relaxation and relief.  Rest is often understood in relation to a particular activity or time but, as has been shown, rest is not defined in terms of activities or times.  Rather, rest in Christ is a lifestyle, an attitude towards life itself, an utter reliance on the Lord.  Rest is then paired with our understandings of hope and peace.

In Christ, rest is not occasion-dependent but is continuous because it is based on our reliance on the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, Christians live in a state of rest because the Holy Spirit, who dwells within believers, is the giver of rest.  Rest is one of the beautiful gifts that God bestows.  Let us strive to live in the Spirit and thus live continuously in His rest.