Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
This passage of scripture promises rest to God's people who are often burdened with the cares and disappointments of this life. The rest here spoken of is not limited to the Sabbatical rest on the seventh day, but also includes permanent rest throughout the entire week. The cares and troubles of life often weigh on the mind of the Christian, and often when the weekly Sabbath comes around, we find ourselves dwelling on unresolved issues of the past week that keep churning in our minds during the sacred hours. When this is the case we may appear in church in person, but our minds are somewhere else, and in this frame of mind it becomes very difficult, if not impossible to focus on Christ and experience the rest He is willing to give. Let's read:
Matthew 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
One Friday evening I was caught in a desperate situation that I did not know how to resolve, because I had promised a customer his Bmw motorcar that was brought into the shop for repairs. I had personally assured the gentleman that his vehicle would be ready long before the Sabbath hours commenced, for I was aware that this was his only form of transportation available to go home, and so I did my best to have the car ready in a timely manner. However I ran into some difficulty with it and try as I might, I could not resolve the issue before sundown. The man showed up at the appointed time, only to realize that his vehicle was not ready, yet according to the commandment of God, I could not work past sunset.
I then went apart for prayer as to how to deal with this matter that I found myself in. The Lord then instructed me to tell the man as it is, that I was a Sabbath-keeping Christian and could not do secular work past sunset on Friday evening, even though the situation was brought about by the promise I had previously made to him. After relating what the Lord had instructed me to say, the man readily agreed and also encouraged me not to do anything against my conscience, and that I should leave the work on his car for Sunday. I was awestruck at the man's response, but I knew then and there that God had given me rest, so that His holy Sabbath could be kept in the right frame of mind.
In our own personal experiences, the cares of life often threaten to disturb the rest that only Christ can give, and we often allow temporal circumstances to crowd out the peace that passes all understanding. At times like these, let us always remember that God gives us rest when we trust and obey His word, and he delivers us out of our troubles so that our communication with Him need not be interrupted. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which teaches us the valuable lesson of living with the promise of rest, and if we believe and adopt it in our everyday experiences, we will find that most of life's troubles will fade into insignificance, when compared with the peace that God gives to us. Let's read:
Psalms 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
May these words find true meaning in our lives now and forevermore. God bless!