Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily Devotional. Following on from our last two devotionals, we continue with this theme of God-given rest. Today, we reflect on Jesus’ invitation to come to Him for rest.
To watch this devotional, follow the link below:
‘“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”’ (Matthew 11:28-30)
What do you do when you are weary and burdened? Watch Netflix? Social media? Go to the gym? Listen to music? Eat and drink? There are many methods with which to seek rest and recuperation, but what can we learn from God on this vital subject? I think that for many of us, when we are tired, we don’t necessarily make the best decisions on how to genuinely rest. Among the many excellent ways of resting, do we know how to seek recreation in Christ?
Today’s text teaches us to come to Jesus when we are weary and burdened, with the promise of rest.
i. Believe the rest givers promise
Firstly, let’s take a moment to place our faith in Jesus’ promise. Let’s decide, before we are weary and burdened, that we believe that Jesus gives ‘rest for your soul’. Jon Bloom writes on this promise:
‘And his simple promise is audacious: “Come to me.” The only way that this isn’t megalomaniacal lunacy is if Jesus is who he claims to be: the eternal Word made flesh, our Creator (John 1:1–3, 14; John 8:58; Hebrews 1:1–3). His simple promise implies a power behind it more than sufficient to lift what weighs us down.’
Did you catch that? Jesus is promising that He has sufficient power to lift you up and empower you. If you can crawl to Jesus, you can do this! If you can’t crawl but only whisper His name, you are qualified!
ii. This is an invitation to the rest of salvation
This invitation is about putting our faith in Jesus. This coming to Jesus when we are burdened and weary is, initially, our becoming a Christian; it’s Jesus lifting the burden of our sin and condemnation and replacing this with the of His grace.
iii. Come to Jesus as a lifestyle
This is about a lifestyle as much as it is about special times of devotion. Yes, this is about being alone with Christ or coming to Him with your church family, but, more specifically, this is about a lifestyle of walking with Jesus. It’s an invitation to constantly ‘come to me’ - to Jesus - as we walk by faith in every circumstance of life. It’s walking in His rest in all of our days.
Most of us know that you can’t ‘cram’ for good health. If you wait until you’re sick before you attend to your health, it’s not too late, but it’s not great! Likewise, don’t wait until you’re spiritually exhausted before you come to Jesus, walk in His presence and rest each day.
iv. Come to Jesus as specific moments
Having said that this is about salvation and a lifestyle, it’s also important that, like Jesus, we have regular moments of devotion with God. The way that we commune with Jesus will vary depending on our rhythms. There is a time of deep study and prayer requiring physical and mental energy. However, when we are tired, most of us will benefit from less demanding methods of being with Jesus. Over time, I trust, you will find methods that work for you. But, whatever you do, ensure that you practice coming to Jesus. Come to the cross. Come to His love. Come to His rest. Don’t be a hard task master to yourself. Come to the God who designed you to rest and, designed you to find rest in Him.
Let’s finish with this wonderful promise that compliments Jesus’ words so well:
‘He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’ (Isaiah 40:29-31)
Community group notes and study
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. Icebreaker
How has God been speaking to you from His Word this week and how has this helped you?
3. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
4. Study and pray together
Our message on Sunday followed the theme of rest. We can seek rest in the wrong places and we can become burnt out and so hide and run away from the pressures of life. However, if we listen to God regarding a wise approach to work and rest, and if we truly seek to draw our rest and strength from Him, we will thrive and be a blessing to many.
Please read Exodus 35:1-3 and Genesis 2:1-3
Did God speak to you about anything specifically from Sunday’s message?
What would you say these passages teach us regarding a wise balance of work and rest?
It’s interesting to see that, in Exodus 35, He reminds people of the six-and-one principle before going on to task them with the hard work of making The Tabernacle. What are the principles that we can learn from this?
Please read Hebrews 4:1-10; How is the Sabbath command (of Exodus 20:8-11) fulfilled in Christ? How do you ensure that you keep this kind of sabbath?
Please read Matthew 11:28-30; How do we, or how can we, seek to live in the good of this promise?
SIV - How will a godly and wise balance of rest and work ensure that we remain faithful in Serving, investing and InViting?
SIV - Do we have any stories of how we have ‘Served, Invested, and inVited’ recently?
SIV - Spend some time together talking and praying about who and how you are seeking to bring your community to Jesus.
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