| “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” |
| —Matthew 11:28 |
Happy New Year! How wonderful that the first day of this new year falls on the first day of the week.
In my household growing up, Sunday afternoon was nap time. When I was seven years old, my dad was forty-seven years old. He was more than ready for a nap on Sunday afternoons. I was not. Nevertheless, he would make me lie down next to him on my bed. He would almost immediately drop off into a rather deep sleep. I would wonder if I might possibly—very slowly and deliberately—move off the bed and pursue other interests. So, I would ever so slightly start to move, inch by inch, slowly, carefully off the bed. Invariably, my slight movements would rouse my dad from his slumber and he would order me back up onto the bed.
Even to this day and at my significantly old age, I’ve never really been a nap person. I find if I doze off during the day, when I awaken I am too groggy and uncomfortable. And yet, in my dotage, I find that sitting quietly in my recliner on a Sunday afternoon inevitably lulls me into an “almost-snooze.” I still don’t look forward to it, but I have reluctantly accepted it as part of the price of old age.
God anticipates that when we wholeheartedly pursue righteous obedience to His will for our lives that effort will extract a certain price from us. So, naturally, God wants to give us an opportunity to find spiritual rest for the labor of our souls. Jesus makes this very clear when He speaks to His followers, as recorded in Matthew 11:28:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
One source of the exhaustion may have come from battling the forces of evil. While some people will not accept the fact that evil persists in our world today, the Bible makes it clear that a great battle is always raging between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness. We who follow Jesus become part of that battle. It’s quite certain that we expend far more energy than we might imagine in the battle that rages around us.
We also use our four human modalities—physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual resources—to stay on the pathway that God has opened up before us. We cannot possibly charge full steam ahead all day long, day after day, without needing an occasional respite from the calling of following Jesus. Thus, He provides perfect rest for all of those human modalities: heart, soul, mind, and strength.
As we launch off into another day, let us not lose sight of the fact that Jesus purposefully offers a rest for our weariness. We can turn to Him at any time and seek His refreshment. And, that is a very good thing to keep in mind.
Based on a blog originally posted on Sunday, January 1, 2017
