As I write this, I am preparing to leave town for a few days. I’m tired and looking forward to getting some rest. In fact, I’m planning to take a nap every day I am away, and I can’t wait!

(By the way, a group from our church recently returned from the Amazon, where the afternoon siesta is a real thing. Listen … I think our Latin friends are on to something! Just saying…)

            Sleep is great and I’m looking forward to it, but if I’m honest, the rest that I long for, the rest I need, is deeper, at the level of my soul. Maybe you can relate?

If so, then Jesus’ words in Matthew 11 are for you…

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT)

These familiar words are comforting, aren’t they?

But they are much more than that! These are words of defiance and resistance – of rebellion against the kingdom of this world and its values.

In this passage, Jesus is comparing his way, his yoke, with the yoke of the Pharisees and religious leaders of his day. They were loading the faithful down with rules, chaining them to standards of behavior and performance God never intended.

Our problem is that we face the same struggle. We listen and attach ourselves to voices and false narratives that become heavy burdens we end up carrying.  

We listen to the voice of performance that tells us we are only as valuable as our latest accomplishment. Or we take up the yoke of approval that keeps us imprisoned by what others think or say about us. Or the yoke of success that says, “It’s never enough,” or the weight of failure, telling us WE are not enough. Or what about the yoke of comparison that leaves us always wanting something else, dissatisfied with our own lives?  

These and other narratives load us down with heavy burdens. And it’s exhausting!

In defiance of this, Jesus boldly invites us simply to come to him. “Come to me,” he says, “and you will find rest for your souls.” This invitation is revolutionary and countercultural. And it’s powerful because of the One who is inviting.

Scripture makes it clear that we are in a battle and there’s no neutral ground. Jesus said that you can’t serve two masters.

So – if we are not heeding the call of Christ to “Come to me,” chances are good that we are picking up and carrying a burden given to us by “the world,” a burden we were never meant to carry.

What about you? Maybe you’ve heard Jesus whispering this invitation to you – maybe for a while - gently inviting you to lay those lies and that burden down. To listen to his voice.

For me lately, he’s not been whispering.  He’s been shouting!

            Friends – Jesus is inviting you and me to come to him, to walk with him daily. And it’s not an invitation to try harder and to do more. It’s an invitation into a relationship with our loving Creator – a life-giving, soul-freeing relationship with our perfect Heavenly Father.

And here’s the thing – the more you and I listen to him, the better we hear him. And the words we will begin to hear – and begin to believe – are words of life as he humbly and gently tells you and me, “You are my dearly loved daughter/son. You bring me great joy.”

(I am grateful for thoughts shared by Pastor Ralph Castillo, Church of the City, New York City, in his sermon, “Rest.”)

Tags: love, faith, god, rest, christianity