Oh, I got my Rest
Matthew 11:28-30 “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. 29 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. 30 Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (The Message)
I couldn’t help but laugh at my daily scripture that came to my phone this morning; I had overslept for the second day in a row, and the scripture was Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. There is so much in that scripture, so much pertinent to those hearing it that day, so much again to the religiosity of today. Christ has just instructed his apostles, and he had went out and began teaching himself. Christ had spoken of John the Baptist, and answered the questions & pointed him out as the prophet in the wilderness as was written in Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts. Christ was proving he was the Messiah with John’s coming before him; he was proving he was the Messiah in all the miracles he had performed in the cities before their very eyes; yet they had not believed. Christ now began condemning those cities to hell, they would pay for their rejection of him; he spoke openly of the great city of Sodom that was known to have been destroyed by God. He told them Sodom would have repented of their sins if they had seen the proofs of Christ right before their eyes.
The scribes and Pharisees had such a hold on the people of that day, they were trapped in their belief system of religiosity. They had come to believe at their core they must work for their salvation. They had come to believe all the demands of the Law that they could never attain. They had come to believe that they must work hard, and follow all the rules. All other religions to this day point to what we must do to reach their God; what work we must accomplish to atone our sins, or to earn the right to Him. Even sects of Christianity preach a dualism of works based faith entwined with Christ. Grace teaches that we can never earn the demands work teaches; grace teaches our faith produces good works, not our works produce our faith. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
I can describe my faith in one word; Peace. In that peace is the understanding of Grace. In that peace is the understanding of my assurance of Salvation; I know, that I know, that I know I am going to heaven. In that peace is that rest that Christ describes in Matthew 11:28. Religiosity and all the works based faith systems can be described simply as burdensome to the soul; it is work for the soul to make sure you are doing everything you are to do to earn your way to heaven. Grace is a restful soul that performs it’s good deeds out of a love relationship for the Savior that did the Atoning Work at the Cross. It is much easier to work for something you love, isn’t it?
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