Showing up for something, when you are already tired, can be daunting. Showing up for anything when you are exhausted is... well, you fill in the blank... because I can almost guarantee, that if you are at this moment, drawing breath into your lungs, you've been there. Tiredness, exhaustion, weariness, you see it everywhere, reflected back at you from the mirror in the morning and there to see you off to bed again at night. It's reflected in our society, in our Blackberries... in our souls.
And then, an Invitation is given. It is an Invitation like no other. As the Invitation unfolds it reads:
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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."
(Matthew 11:28-30)
This invitation, with it's very first Word, is both inviting and commanding. The Word says, "Come...". If you are like me, whenever I receive an invitation to something, I always look for four specific things - The Date, the Time, the Location and the Purpose.
As we look closer at this invitation we can see that, The Date is Today, the Time is Now, the Location is Jesus, The Purpose is Rest.
Date: Today
"Today if you hear His Voice" (Hebrews 3:7-13)
Time: Now
"Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of Salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2)
Location: Jesus
"Come to Me" (Matthew 11:28)
Purpose: Rest
"...I will give you rest."
"...you will find rest for your your souls." (Matthew 11:29)
Look at who this Invitation has gone out to... the weary, the heavy-laden, to those who are in need of rest. Why are we in such need of rest? It's because of (drumroll), sin.
I'll tell you something, nothing causes eyes to roll and heated discussions to rise up like throwing the word 'sin' into a conversation! And something else I've noticed... nothing clears a room faster than mentioning the Name of Jesus... and I'm not talking about using it as an expletive either, no problem it seems, when you throw His Name around like that!
If the word 'sin' sets your teeth on edge or causes you to think of me as one of those 'extreme Christians', (you know, the type that don't remember to do their Christian thing on a Sunday behind the closed doors of the church, and leave it there) think about this... 'Sin' is simply an archery term. Whenever the arrow misses the mark, it is called 'sin'.
So, with that in mind, let's look at Matthew 15:7 taking out the word 'sinner' and replacing it with its definition... "I tell you that in the same way, there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who has missed the mark, who repents..." Oh brother, there's another word that causes heads to spin - 'repent'. OK, so here is the definition of 'repent'... it means 'to turn from'. To turn from what? To turn from missing the mark, turning towards the bulls-eye (so to speak). But which way do you turn? Where is the mark that we are to be aiming for? It's not a where... it's Who. The only way for an arrow (sinner) to not sin (miss the mark (Jesus)), is for the sinner to find herself hidden, deep within Jesus (Colossians 3:1-3)... Bulls-eye!
So, The Invitation requires that those who are already tired, already exhausted... Show Up. Is this Invitation just another burden to weary already bent and depleted souls? Not when the Invitation says, "Come to Me" and both the "Invitation" and the "Me" is Jesus!
Think of all the ways that you try and give your soul rest. Go ahead, I'm serious, take a moment and list what you do, apart from Jesus, to give yourself rest. I'll wait for you...
I'm almost sure that everything that you listed, apart from Jesus, was or is, temporary, at best. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." (John 1:1-3) NOTHING!... and that includes True and Lasting Rest! The Word is saying "Come", the Word is saying, "Come to Me", the Word is saying, "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden", the Word is saying, "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you Rest...for your souls."
Both the Word and the Invitation are Jesus, just as He is... The True Rest.
2 comments:
Hi Cathie!
I love the idea of an invitation! And I am with ya on how simple words like "sin" and "repent" can kill a conversation! But, it is what it is ;) Thank you so much for visiting my little corner of the world -- having just slipped into yours, I have a hunch we're kindred spirits! I love how God can use blogging to bless...your visit prompted me to find a new sister today...He's just so darn thoughtful it makes me giggle!!
Thankyou Cathie for saying as it is, for daring to use the word sin in this liberal age!
What a great Saviour we have in Jesus who takes away our sin and enables us to "turn away" from sin only through His power alone.
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