28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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.”
—The words of Jesus from Matthew 11:28-29
“I’m just so tired of fighting.”
My mid-western friend on the other end of the telephone line expressed his weariness with a deep sigh. For the last nineteen months he has fought within the state legislature to make the installation of residential automatic fire sprinklers a requirement for all new one- and two-family residences.
All of the research points to the value of this important fire protection at relatively low cost per square foot for new construction. The residential fire sprinklers not only help protect the occupants of the dwelling, they also afford protection for the responding fire fighters. Sadly, the state builders’ association has joined forces with the state realtors’ organization to pour a substantial sum of money into lobbying against this legislation.
As a result of extreme opposition and a public relations campaign of false information concerning the cost of the residential sprinklers, my friend has found himself in a constant battle where the opposition consistently ignores proven facts. To add further stress to my friend, the representatives of the builders’ association and realtors’ association have resorted to personal attacks against my friend’s competency and character.
What about you? Do you have some issue in your life where you’ve fought long and hard to bring about change, or where you have determined to cling tenaciously to the truth, only to experience such opposition, even attack, that it has caused an overwhelming weariness in the depths of your being? If so, then I commend to you the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post. Jesus specifically tells His followers that He invites all who are weary and burdened to come to Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ offers the most genuine help for those standing with the truth who have become weary in their efforts. He truly knows what it feels like to hold strongly to what one believes is a position of truth and to come to a place of bone-crunching weariness in body and spirit. Out of His own experience, Jesus welcomes His sons and daughters to come and rest in Him.
Not only does Jesus invite the weary to come to Him, He indicates His open desire to teach those willing to receive His instruction. “Learn of me,” He invites. What better a teacher of patience and perseverance than Jesus. He who has held steady to the very end, even unto death in our behalf, certainly knows how to teach His children the way to handle the adversity that comes with standing firm on the truth.
So, in handling whatever trials you face, if you’ve already hit the wall, turn to Jesus. If you feel you might soon hit the wall, turn to Jesus. He waits to welcome you. He waits to welcome me. He calls us to Himself. He urges us to come and receive rest for our souls.
As you ponder Christ’s invitation, please allow me to suggest that you point your web browser to this link where you may scroll down to Item No. 20 and listen to alto and soprano solos from Handel’s Messiah. The text of the soprano solo uses the words from today’s Scripture passage.
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
Precious Savior, how we long to rest in You. We rejoice that You have invited us to come to You and find rest for our souls
Thank You, dear Father, for Your great love that You have demonstrated to us in the provision of Your Son. How we thank You for leading us by Your Holy Spirit along the pathway You have laid out before us. And, thank You for hearing our prayer in and through the precious Name of Your Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment