“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Have you ever been so tired that you could barely put one foot in front of the other? Maybe you stayed up all night studying…or sitting with a child who was sick, fussy, or simply would not sleep. Maybe you were so worried about something that you could not sleep – or eat – and then you were not only worried, but exhausted as well. Perhaps you were traveling for an extended time…trying to get somewhere to someone or to an important event. Maybe you had a project due at school or work, so you pulled an “all-nighter” to get it done.
MAYBE you are mentally tired. You have wrestled with personal issues and the worries and concerns of others – in your immediate circle, your community and the world at large – and everywhere you turn, there seem to be problems, hurts, burdens and heartaches. Just thinking and praying about all of this has left you bone weary and totally drained.
Or maybe you are exhausted by all of the talk about how you should live out your Christian faith. Do this…don’t do that…believe this…don’t believe that…give more…serve more…love more…join a Bible study and sing in the choir…serve on this committee or in this ministry…come to church every time the doors are open…if you say “No!”, you’re turning your back on Jesus…be kind and generous to everyone…never have a “bad day”! It is enough to make our heads spin and cause us to “burn out on religion”!
These thoughts did not come from our gracious, loving God! They are man-made concepts and pressures that have nothing to do with true Christian faith. God sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins…to take our burdens and teach us His gentle, graceful rhythms of unconditional love and care for others. The last thing He wants is for us to run around like chickens with our heads cut off…to wear ourselves out with worry and “busyness”, pressures and guilt over how much we have or have not done.
It’s really very simple…all we have to focus on is Jesus. We may still have to sit up all night with a sick child or loved one…there may be times when we are physically taxed for a while and must operate without adequate sleep. But when we focus on Jesus, He gives us supernatural strength in these moments. And when we “walk with Him and watch how He does it,” all of those “woulda, coulda, shouldas” that play over and over in our head disappear.
Hallelujah! Praise Jesus! He is ready, willing, and able to lighten our load…to show us how to live more freely! He will give us rest of the most important kind and teach us how to live every day for Him - with grace and joy! It doesn’t matter how old you are, where you are in life, how long you have been a Christian – or even if you ARE a Christian yet! This can be the day that things begin to change. This can be the start of the best “rest” you will ever enjoy!
Won’t you shift your focus to Jesus today? Will you spend some time in prayer and conversation with Him and lay whatever exhausts you at His feet? Will you exchange your “yokes and burdens” for His and start to walk in the freedoms and lightness of His unforced rhythms and grace? Aren’t you grateful for God's gift of Jesus? Will this be the day you truly start to show it? Will this be the start of the “best rest” you ever had? Don’t you think it should be?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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