Matthew 11:28, 29 “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 for your souls.”
People often think that when they accept Christ that their difficulties and problems are going to disappear. It is important to realize that this is not what the Word of God teaches. Christians do have needs. Christians do face hardships – some quite devastating. What the Bible does promise is that Jesus will give us strength to get us through our problems, comfort to ease the pain, and as Matthew 11:28 says, “rest” in the midst of our difficulties. In other words, we do not have to face these hardships alone.
Remember, hardships can help us to mature in our Christian walk. You’ve heard the saying “A smooth sea, never made a skillful sailor.” Well, a problem free life never makes a “trusting” Christian.
If you are heavy laden with a great burden, Jesus says come and I will give you rest. It is interesting that He should use the word “rest”. He doesn’t say, come unto me and I will take all of your problems away. He doesn’t say that He will solve every difficulty in our lives. What He does say is that He will be with us and give us rest in the midst of these problems. What a great promise!
The conditions of Matthew 11:28, 29 are plain – we are to come to Jesus with our burdens, we are to walk beside Him (yoked with Him) and we are to learn of Him (be in the Word). When we do these things, we can then claim this promise of “rest.”
No Comments