Rest: March 1, 2013

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY MARCH 1, 2013.

REST

DEFINITION:

A state of quiet or repose; freedom from care; peace of mind or spirit.

SCRIPTURE:

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The verse above from Matthew is an echo of the first beatitude that Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God.”

The poor in spirit are those who are weary from carrying the heavy load of their sin. They recognize that they are lost and spiritually bankrupt and hopeless to save themselves. In Jesus day the religious leaders had added so many complicated do’s and don’ts to Jewish law that people felt heavy-laden and weary from trying to keep them. Jesus invites all to come to Him and find rest from spiritual weariness.

It is an open invitation to all that hear His words but is phrased in such a way that the only ones who will respond to His invitation are those who are burdened by their own spiritual bankruptcy and the weight of trying to save themselves by keeping the law.

Spiritual rest is a commodity today that very few people enjoy. This is because the stubbornness of man’s sinful rebellion is such that without a Sovereign God who offers spiritual relief, all sinners keep living a life that refuses to acknowledge the depth of their spiritual poverty.

To come to Him means to put our trust in Him believing that He can take away our heavy burden of sin and give us complete rest and enduring peace.

In Psalm 37:7 it reads, “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Not only must we come to Him but we must rest in Him. We can be assured that God can carry our burdens better than we can so we should be willing to wait patiently for Him to work in our lives. All those who are willing to come to Him, will find rest from the heavy burden of sin.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ephesians 6:1.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

PRAYER:

Help me to find that blessed calm each day that I can rest in You. Take me away from the world of toil and evil that I live in and draw me close to You. Give me that quiet nook where I can rest and listen to what You have for me.