Come To Me, All Who are Weary
Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29
Matthew 11:28
These are the red letters to a weary soul.1
Read these words again slowly.
Come to me, all of you…
This is an invitation and a directive that is given to you and to all who need it. There is a safe place. There is a sanctuary. There is rest. His name is Jesus.
who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
Jesus sees you. He always has, and he knows what you are going through. He knows you are exhausted, at the end of your rope, and have nothing more to give. He sees what you have been carrying that nobody else knows or sees. He knows the overwhelming weight of your past, your present, and the anxiety of the future. He sees and knows.
And I will give you rest.
What do you imagine when you see this sentence? I’m picturing him handing me a pillow, pointing me to a soft bed, and saying, “Don’t worry about everything out here, I’ve got this.” You can only give someone something that you already have. When he is giving you rest, it is because Jesus has rest to give you. He is the author of rest, the designer of rest, the giver of rest.
Rest is a gift of God.
One other thought:
Weariness and heavy burdens can be by-products of a faithful life. Later on in Matthew, when Jesus is praying before his arrest, he says, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” That sounds like heavy burdens and weariness to me!
But he is going to the Father in prayer to receive what the Father has for him, and even then he invites the disciples to stay with him (and they stayed, which was good. They slept, which was not good.) The Father told Jesus to come to him, and so when he was at his most exhausted, he went with others to the Father.
This is my hope for you. When you are at your most exhausted, you would go with others to Jesus, and he will sustain you. He will give you rest.
Love,
Aaron
On Fridays, I write Red Letters to a Weary Soul. We are walking slowly through the statements of Jesus. If you are interested in receiving these on Friday and continuing to encourage my writing, then click the button below.
