WATCHWORD:
Come to me, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
Meditation:
Relive the Pain?
In a younger version of me, I had aspirations of being an actor. In my early years at college I looked forward to rehearsals because they were fun and I learned a lot of things, some of which are not worthy of being detailed here, such as I learned some ballet steps and positions, I learned some really funny lines, and I learned how delivery changes the meaning of a line. My actor dream was encouraged by having parts in Shakespearean dramas, a principal role in Hello Dolly, and the lead role in Bus Stop. All good stuff for an actor.
One other thing I learned was how important rehearsals were in preparing us, the cast, to the actual staging of the play. Repeating it over and over again helps each character fashion their role as part of the whole. This lesson, however, does not always apply in real life.
Rehearsing bad experiences, or rehashing troubles is not helpful, and results in experiencing discomfort and pains many times over. We are meant to go through the pain of trouble only once, when it actually occurs and there is no point in multiplying the suffering.
Our Lord tells us to “come to me” and relax in his peace. He tells us that it will strengthen us and prepare us for this day, taking away our fear and turning it into confident trust. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus makes it very clear that when we come to him, with all of our burdens and difficulties, and troubles, that we will find peace and rest because, as he puts it, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. When we come to Him and surrender our hurts to the gentleness of His yoke, we need not repeat the pain.
It’s hard for us to face a day when we know there is something in the road ahead that will not be easy for us. And yet if we place our faith and trust in Jesus, and believe what he tells us when he says my yoke is easy and my burden is light, that should give us a lift, a sense of confidence, peace as we enter the day. Trusting in the Lord is the key. Amen.
Finding Rest:
Rest is a gift from God to be received and practiced. In our modern culture, it’s easy to get caught up in doing more and rushing faster. But sometimes life seems to go, go, go and it is exhausting, and we often feel like we can’t keep up. Running harder seems to be the thing to do, so we try. But no matter, the harder we try, we just cannot keep up and life feels too hard to keep going. We know we need to rest, but we don’t know how.
Do you believe that Jesus offers you rest and peace, and it is completely free? From the very beginning of the Bible God, Himself sets an example for us. After six days of creating the world, the Bible tells us, “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done” (Genesis 2:2). It is feee, but it is not easy to fully trust and have active faith in our Lord. The point is, it works!
Closing Prayer:
Dear Father, thank You that I can come close to You, knowing that the barrier of sin has been removed. Thank You that You give me true rest for my soul and perfect peace in my heart, and that in the midst of any storm, Your peace that passes human understanding remains. Look with mercy on those who have not yet come to you for salvation. Convict their hearts of their need to come to You and trust in Your redemptive blood for the forgiveness of sin. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.
