In our current Sabbath series we are considering three aspects or callings of this transition season: reflection, rest and rebirth. Today’s message deals with rest.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus invites, even calls all that are weary and over-burdened to come to him and He will provide rest. There is an imperative in this invitation, we must come to Him if we are going to ever receive His rest. Too often we are waiting for rest to happen to us, for God to simply bestow upon us what we are looking for without ever being willing to take up our cross and follow Him. The first step to rest is to come to Jesus on His terms just as He has called us.
There are then three descriptions of rest that we have looked at:
1. Rest is knowing the love of God
Nothing provides more rest thank knowing that we are loved.
2. Rest is trusting God
Rest is not the absence of effort, it is the absence of anxiety and the presence of confidence. If I know that God is for me I can and will rest in the midst of any and ever situation and circumstance that I encounter.
3. Rest is learning to embrace quiet
God desires to quiet all the noise in our lives, to remove harmful thoughts, ideas, beliefs and even relationships and places of dependence. The rest that Jesus offers is not the removal of all of our difficulties but rather the removal of everything that competes with Him for our attention and affection. Trust rest is wearing His yoke of love, not merely being freed from the burden of our circumstance.