Matthew 11:28-30 –“COME TO ME, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you REST.  Take my yoke upon you and LEARN FROM ME, for I am GENTLE and humble in heart, and you will find REST for your souls.  For my yoke is EASY and my burden is LIGHT.”

The Message puts it like this –“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 learnt to LIVE FREELY and LIGHTLY.”

Mmmmmmmmmmm!!!!  How awesome is that?   In a world where rest is hard to come by, doesn’t it sound so appealing?  He is asking us to walk with him, learn from him, follow his example, and only carry what he gives us because it is light and easy to bear.

Sometimes we are burdened down by our own doing.  We get so busy and think there are so many things that we are exclusively responsible for.  False guilt and obligation are heavy loads to walk around with.  We put ridiculous expectations on ourselves, trying to do it all, but soon are weighed down by the pace and the weight.

Jesus promises rest.  But it’s hard to rest when we are racing around from one thing to the next.  In this case, less  is more.  More productive.  More enjoyable.  More rewarding.  More impactful.  More restful.  I’m liking the sound of that…

Sometimes it is religion with its rules and regulations that unnecessarily weigh us down.  We are so exhausted from putting all our attention on what the “rules” are that we miss really living and investing in relationships.  Jesus kept it so simple.  Love God, love people.  Everything else just falls into place after that.  If those are our first two loves, then we live how we are meant to live.  Respect and treating others right is automatic.

I read on in Matthew after reading this passage, and the following chapters are filled with Jesus being confronted by religious leaders saying that he wasn’t following the rules.  Okay, how ridiculous is that?  How arrogant!  They are saying this to the Son of God!  They are taking on this role of authority that was actually his to begin with.  Crazy!  They accused him of eating in the wrong places, healing on the wrong day, not following the law’s protocol.  And this is what I love.  Jesus ALWAYS put people and relationships ahead of protocol and rules. That was clear in what he did during his entire time on earth and in how he responded to such accusations. And he still does the same.  And that’s one of those places of rest that he invites us to.  To walk with him and learn from him and follow his example.  Keeping it simple and living fully.

Sometimes it’s people that wear us out, that rob us of rest.  Jesus was a great example of how to deal with that as well.  He gave and gave and gave, but there were times when he just had to get away from it all.  Be alone with his thoughts and his Father.  Time to pray without distraction or demands from others.

I am writing this to myself today as much as I am writing this to anyone else.  I have a really hard time resting.  I need to be less of a “do-er” and more of a “be-er” .  I want to enjoy some of Jesus’ rest today.  To walk with him and learn from him today and savor the “unforced rhythms of grace”…