Matthew 11:28 | Come To Me

Matthew 11:28 NIV says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Are you ready to receive this promise today? Monday mornings have always been my favorite day of the week. I know it sounds wild, but if you understood my personality, you would realize that Mondays represent a fresh start to a new week of possibilities to accomplish new things. I think my mindset generally agrees with a hustle and win culture where success depends on your ability to work harder and faster than the competition.

Yet the kingdom of God is built differently. Instead of calling all his people to get their heads in the game and make it happen, Jesus calls us to rest. This Kingdom paradigm takes time to learn: we accomplish more in rest than in striving.

In this way, rest becomes more than a last resort after a hard week of working. It becomes a source of strength and a place of abiding. We live from rest because God has granted us the gift of salvation and the assurance of his presence.

I want to remind you how hard it is to be in God’s presence when you live a rushed and stressful life. Of course, we can never avoid business and stress entirely. I have a baby boy, so our days are big highs and lows that we have to deal with. You probably have circumstances in your life that you can’t control either.

So how do we interpret what Jesus is teaching us here? Is our goal to eliminate stress and conflict in our lives and build our house on a desert island? Of course not! God has called us to be a light in the world and bring the gospel to those around us. Besides, constructing an artificial rest would be something we do in our own strength and not through relying on God.

God invites us into rest wherever we are. He says, “come to me.” If we can hear his voice, we can learn to live in rest despite our situations. When we carry a burden alone, God says, “come to me.” If we can learn to share the load with God, we can learn to live in rest. God has brought people into rest in the most chaotic situations imaginable, but it came because someone heard the Good Shepherd's voice saying, “I will give you rest.”

For many believers abiding seems impossible because they cannot find rest and peace. To do so would require supernatural power, and that is the point. God has the power to bring rest and peace in any situation. Can you hear his voice?

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