Part 3 - You Are Invited

(Part 3)

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.(Matthew 11:28-30)

The words spoken by Jesus are an invitation and a promise: "Come unto me….and you shall find rest." Jesus invites us to come to Him and find rest. Rest from addictions. Rest from fear. Rest from guilt. Rest from the feeling of being trapped in a situation you can’t change. Rest from a relationship you can’t escape. Rest! So…how do we get this promised rest?

This rest comes from being in a right relationship with God. The rest of which I speak can be neither bought, bartered or earned. It begins with a decision of faith…choosing to place our faith in Jesus and His shed blood as the payment for our sin. In making this choice, we ask God to forgive us of our sins and we accept Jesus as our Savior. At that moment, we enter a right relationship with our Creator God. We can rest in that. Ephesians 2:12 says that “He Himself is our peace”. Our right relationship with God is not predicated on being religious or doing good deeds…it is based on Jesus who loved us and gave Himself for us.

This rest comes from the sure promises of God’s Word. There is no rest in the promises of well meaning people. Regardless of situation or circumstance you can rest on what God says. God’s Word says: “Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you.” (Psalms 55:22). God’s Word says, “Fear thou not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God. I will help you, I will strengthen you and I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10).

This rest comes when we worship God. We don’t worship and praise God because everything is wonderful - we worship Him and praise Him because He is wonderful! According to Psalms 100, we give thanks and bless His name because He is good and His mercy is everlasting. We can worship God in His house or in our house….in the sanctuary or in the grocery store. God inhabits our praise and brings a rest and a peace into our lives when we worship Him.

Right now, the Holy Spirit is there where you are. You may be reading this today and there are situations in your life that cause you a lot of unrest. You are invited to find rest in God and His Word and in His Presence. Don’t run….REST. Don’t wrestle…REST. Don’t worry…REST. You can’t fix it…but God can.