Receiving Rest

“Come to me all of you that 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, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly and the burden I give you is light.”

(Matthew 11 28 – 30)

Rest is Jesus gift to us but, like any gift, it must be received before we can gain any practical benefit from it! Jesus states - “I will give you rest if you come to me”.

Like the everlasting life Jesus offers, this rest is entered by faith. Speaking of the Jewish people, the Apostle Paul stated that their failure to enter in to God’s rest was as a result of their unbelief (see – Hebrews 3:19 & 4:2&3). Conversely, the Psalm writer David links his “resting” with the simplicity of childlike faith (see – Psalm 116 6&7). So we receive and enter the rest Jesus offers by an act of simple, uncomplicated faith – and maintain our rest in the same way.

It is only in this rest that we discover true freedom in the world and from the bondages and burdens religion would place upon us.

However, there will be occasions that we may have to fight to maintain our rest! This may sound like a contradiction – but there will be religious people, perhaps well meaning people, who will attempt to entangle us in the snare of religious observance, tradition and corrupt authority structures. These will, very quickly, entangle us again with a religious yoke and the burden of man made religious observance.

Never forget – it is to live a life of freedom that Jesus has set you free.