For This ReasonSample

For this reason, I REST   

Rest.

It sounds so appealing. It’s something we all want to experience. However, in the midst of our busy lives, it’s difficult to find true rest for our souls. Rest might even feel completely impossible because of a trial you’re facing or the many duties on your never-ending to-do list.

In Matthew chapter 11, Jesus invites you to find true rest in Him. His invitation to you is to take up His yoke and learn from Him in order to find true rest; rest for your soul. Your soul craves a kind of rest that can only come through Christ. You may try to rest in various ways, trying to distract yourself from life, but unless you find rest in the presence of God, you will never experience the rest your soul craves.  

We tell ourselves that rest is the absence of problems. You may have different burdens or problems that you are facing, and believe that the only way to experience rest is for your problems to go away. However, Jesus provides us a kind of supernatural rest that is only accessible through Him, a kind of rest that is even available to us in the midst of our suffering. When it comes to Jesus, rest doesn’t necessarily mean the absence of problems, it just means that through abiding in Him, we can have rest in spite of everything happening around us.

Rest means giving Christ your burdens and trusting Him to take care of them.  It means believing He is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do. It is only when you are yoked with Christ that you can find true rest for your soul.

QUESTIONS:

1. REFLECT: What does rest mean to you?

2. APPLY: What burdens do you need to give to Christ to experience true rest for your soul?

3. PRAY: Lord, I give my burdens to you. May I cast all my cares and worries on you and experience the kind of true rest that is only accessible through You.