Rest To Your Soul

In thinking about rest, I thought of something that Jesus once said: 

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 

This month, I shared about the importance of physical rest, daily and weekly, for good health. 

In the verses I shared above, Jesus talked about another kind of rest - a rest for our soul. This kind of rest can only be found in Christ. 

I grew up hearing these Bible verses often. These verses were always so comforting to me, but it wasn't until I was older that I learned something new about the context in which Jesus spoke these words.

You see, the religious leaders of Jesus' day had taken many of God's commandments and added their own laws, rules, and restrictions to God's commands, thus placing heavy burdens on people that God never intended His people to bear. A perfect example of this is seen in the verses that follow in Matthew 12:1-8. 

It was the Sabbath day and the Bible says that Jesus' disciples were hungry, so they decided to pick some ears of corn to eat, something that the religious leaders made a law against doing on the Sabbath day. God did not tell His people they could not pick corn on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees had added something to God's Word about the Sabbath day.  

Things like this placed heavy burdens on people, especially young students of God's Word who were looking up to their Rabbi (Jewish teacher).

Jesus words must have come as a refreshment to those listening to Him.

"Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." 

What a stark contrast to the religious leaders of Jesus' day who constantly placed burdens on their followers with their many added laws, rules, and customs!

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." 

Jesus compared His yoke, His commandments, as being easy and a rest for their soul in comparison to the many added rules of the Pharisees - things that were never in the Word of God to begin with! 

"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 

Jesus offers this same rest to us. We can receive this rest for our soul by becoming meek and lowly in heart like Jesus - by humbling ourselves before God. 

God's Word, His loving commands and instructions, bring life and rest to our soul! 

There are so many different Christian denominations out there today, and sometimes, it can be difficult to "find God" in the midst of all of them. God's Word alone is our guidebook to lead us to God where we can find rest for our soul.  

Ultimately, true rest for our soul comes from resting in what Christ did for us by dying on a cruel cross and shedding His blood as the atonement for our sin, thus enabling us to have peace with God! 

If you have not yet received this blessed rest for your soul, won't you come to Christ today? He longs to give you that peace and rest that He alone gives! 

"Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28