When was the last time you felt truly rested? We work hard all year long just waiting for our vacation. We further exhaust ourselves getting everything ready, packing up the vehicle and family, and head off for a week together. Then, after a few days, we realize that we are going to need a vacation from our vacation and look forward to being back to work.
The word “rest” is used 508 times in the Bible. Most of the time, in the Old Testament. it is referring to the Sabbath or the day of rest. Yet, work is also mentioned numerous times in the Bible. Even before the fall, God told Adam to work and cultivate the garden and many times in the Bible the value of work is taught.
However, so is the value of rest. Too much work and one can get burned out, thus the need for rest. Not enough work and one can grow lazy and not be providing for their family. So, this work and rest thing needs to be one of balance and wisdom.
Now the Law which God gave to Moses had become a terrible burden. Its original intent from God was to teach His people how to live a life that would be different from the people surrounding them. However, by the time Jesus came the Pharisees had turned the Law into a weapon and were beating the life out of the Jewish people.
The day of rest became a day of fear. Every movement and action had to be carefully examined to make sure you did not cross the line and be accidentally doing work on the day of rest. Just to show you how ridiculous this became people had to wear a separate pair of shoes on the Sabbath. A regular pair of shoes had tiny nails attaching the bottom part of the shoe to the top part of the shoe. Since lifting anything made of metal would be considered work then you had to have shoes without nails to wear on the Sabbath.
To minister to the people who were seen by Jesus as suffering under the weight of these laws, He makes a wonderful statement to his listeners in Matthew 11:28-30;
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.”
We cannot imagine how dark things were before Jesus came to His people. Have you ever known people who are perfectionistic and legalistic? Everything has to be done just right with attention paid to every detail. Nothing was ever good enough. Legalists are always trying to make their brand of legalism more minute than the next because that is how they are making themselves more perfect, so they can think of themselves as better than everyone else.
I hate legalism and I know Jesus did as well. So, Jesus invites us to come to Him when we are weary and burdened. He invites us to link up with Him – to take His yoke upon us and to learn from Him. Jesus is gentle and humble in heart and when we are united with Him, we will begin to find rest for our souls. But what is this rest He is talking about?
The rest Jesus offers to us is resting from any works that will try to make ourselves acceptable to Him. It is the thought that we must get our act together before He would welcome and accept us. The problem here is that we are not able to do that. If being accepted by Jesus depends on me getting my act together then that will never happen.
Because we live in this fallen world, have a sinful nature inside of us, and face demonic forces of evil every day we will never be able to perfect ourselves. Instead, Jesus invites us to connect with Him. There is a yoke upon us but He invites us to take His yoke upon ourselves because then we will experience His power and His strength enabling us to do what apart from Him we could never do.
He finished the work that needed to be done to make us acceptable to God. He died and rose again from the dead to pay the FULL price for all of our sins. He has granted to us His own righteousness and has already made us completely acceptable in His sight.
Now is there work to do? Yes, and lots of it. Work that God has created us to do beforehand so that we can walk in it.
Quit striving to make yourself acceptable to Jesus. You already are, so now, allow Him to transform you through His Spirit each and every day.