Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
The world is going at such a fast pace that some days it is hard to catch our breath, let alone find rest. Rest seems an elusive concept for most today, but the Bible has much to say about making times of rest a priority. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus talks about two aspects of resting. Resting from work (labor) and resting from a barrage of negative emotions (souls) that can result from not taking time to rest.
Whether we are working in the corporate world, a busy wife and mother, or a retired person involved in volunteer work, we can all fall into the “busy trap”. Busy working and taking on projects. Busy running errands and playing “catch the 2 out of 4 children” running around the house. Busy cooking, cleaning, texting, taking the kids to music lessons, attending after-school and weekend sports events. Busy taking on far too many volunteer opportunities in the name of “Kingdom work”. Activities that wear us down to the point of exhaustion. While there are many benefits to differing types of activities, the majority of people seem to stay stuck in an unhealthy mentality that thinks rest is not necessary. It is amazing how society has made us feel guilty for taking moments of rest, and we unknowingly continue to fall into Satan’s trap of robbing us of peace. If we do not take time to be in the presence of God, abide in Him, and seek His direction for our lives, we will end up veering off course from the path He has designed for us (Psalm 23:2-4).
Looking at the context of Mathew 11, Jesus condemns various cities for unrepentance leading to aspects of verses 28-30 dealing with eternal rest. Jesus then goes on in Matthew 12 to address the Pharisees of loading legalistic bondages on the people. Weaved within the passage of Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus addresses present-day challenges we face. He asks us to learn from Him characteristics of what godly rest should look like in this world, as we abide in Him.
Throughout the Bible, from the beginning of time in Genesis to the end of time in Revelation, God speaks of rest. In Genesis 2:2-3, God finished the work that he had done and rested (creation rest) and blessed the seventh day, making it holy. God then thought rest so important that after leading the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt he commanded a Sabbath day, a holy day of solemn rest (Exodus 16:23). In Revelation 14:13, the Spirit refers to the eternal rest of the Saints as being blessed.
Resting does not mean laziness. God says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 “If a man does not work, he shall not eat”, but many have taken this verse out of context to justify their constant busyness which turns into performance-based work. I spent the majority of my life knee-deep in this misconception. I felt that I was being lazy if I rested. I was allowing myself to stay in the bondage of busyness to the point of avoiding resting and paying for it physically and emotionally. If we stay with this line of thinking it would equate to how the Israelites were treated by the Egyptians as their harsh taskmaster. We can become our own harsh taskmaster when we follow non-stop “doing” and eliminate resting and abiding in Christ. The Pharisees were also masters at laying huge burdens on the people, without lifting a finger themselves (Matthew 23:4-5). We can be tempted to involve ourselves in too many activities thinking God is more pleased with us as a result. It is important to look deep down and ask ourselves if what we are doing is to please man and how they view us or are we more interested in pleasing God. To go a little deeper, if God was the only one that knew all of the many things you were doing, and no one else was aware of your hard work, would He be glorified by your actions? Are we putting the needs of others before our own without seeking recognition or reward? We are called to mirror God’s gentle and lowly nature toward others (Colossians 3:22-23).
God, in His infinite wisdom, knows that as humans occupying mortal bodies, He built into us the need for rest physically but it also spills into our souls emotionally. Physical exhaustion can easily turn into emotions of anxiety, worry, and impatience. Our flesh begins to seek self only. Our Heavenly Father knows setting apart time of rest rejuvenates and restores the body, mind, and soul of a person which is why the enemy tries so hard to steal it from us.
Wedged in between resting from work (physical labor) and resting our emotions (souls) Jesus says, “I am gentle and lowly of heart.” Jesus offers us an invitation – He asks us to come to Him. It is important to recognize that it is up to us to take what He offers, He won’t force it on us. Jesus spoke of two important characteristics of himself. By taking His rest we are learning from Him and taking His yolk of gentleness and a lowly disposition. Gentleness and lowliness complement each other. Where gentleness is considered a character trait, lowliness has to do with a position or demeanor. A lowly disposition does not mean that we are weak and unimportant. We are infinitely valuable to the Most High God! Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, came from Heaven to Earth in human form in the ultimate act of humility. Lowliness has to do with godly humility. When we are making God the most important person in our lives and serving others rather than ourselves, we are displaying a lowly demeanor. We are throwing off pride and glorifying God in our hearts and actions.
Gentleness is a beautiful character trait and a gift of the Spirit. Gentleness speaks truth in a loving way. Gentleness responds to others, especially in tense situations, with a soft answer, promoting peace and defusing conflict (Proverbs 15:1). Lowly and gentle people are patient, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2). These two traits show that we have compassion for others in their struggles and trials and we carry each other in love, rather than reacting in judgment of one another or using a harsh tone.
My sweet Mother showed me and my siblings a great example of how to incorporate daily rest. Even when we were young, I remember her telling us all to get our favorite book and we would sit in the family room, without talking (which was personally hard for me), and read for 30 minutes. While we were doing this, she was reading her Bible or her daily devotional, and we were learning the Biblical practice of taking time out of whatever we were doing to rest and calm our thoughts. As I got older, I began the practice of taking time daily to read the Bible. God is pleased when we make rest a priority during each day and seek Him. Meditating on God’s Word it is an invaluable godly practice, daily participating in Kingdom rest.
Take time to abide in Christ, resting in what He has done for you. When Mary was resting at His feet and Martha was anxious and troubled about many things, Jesus commended Mary saying “….but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42) . Resting in God is a form of worshiping Him. Mary gave the Word first place. I’ve worn both Mary’s and Martha’s shoes, and I have found that Mary’s shoes are a much better fit.