Resting part 3
I started this Rant series with Matthew 11:29 in the Message Bible. Well, today I want to back up a little bit and get the previous verse too. And I want to get it in both the Message Bible and the KJV. We'll do the MSG first. "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you." That's so powerful to me. Recovering our lives. By getting away with Jesus. And that doesn't mean taking a literal vacation to the beach somewhere--as amazing as that might sound. That means making sure that love is the focus of our lives no matter where we are or what we're doing. Letting love guide the way in every way! Look at it in the King James Version: "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." I like the focus in the KJV on rest. Jesus says He IS our rest, and He says that in learning of Him we will find our rest. If you're tired, burned out on religion, sick of trying to get something you think you haven't got by being someone you're not... that's when you need a change. Enough is enough, and it's time for a change. So come to Jesus. A "come to Jesus moment" doesn't have to be one where you get a life-threating piece of news or whatever. It can come from being sick of the hamster wheel. Being sick and tired of being sick and tired. Wanting that more excellent Way, and then finding it in the One who is the Way (and the Truth, and the Life)! God is love, right? Jesus is God in the flesh, love in a body? God in our flesh, love in our body? So if He IS our rest, that means LOVE is our rest. We can rest in it, and we can operate in it. Loving people can be hard work. But that doesn't mean it's not worth it. Loving people is the only thing that IS worth it. And, at the end of the day, when we stop forcing it and just learn the unforced rhythms of grace, when we let it go and let if flow, that's when even the hard things get easy. That's when we can truly begin to enjoy this never ending everlasting life-long journey that we're on. A journey into the heart of the matter. Which is the heart. God's heart beating with love in our chests. Rest is not inactivity. It's getting "away" from what's wearing you out by rising above it. Going through things but not letting those things go through you. Rest is not inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the Holy Spirit only ever directs us to love. To live is to love. To love is to live. To love is to rest and to rest is to love. Loving people doesn't empty us out. It fills us up. Love IS our rest. When we are operating from a posture of rest, we are operating from a posture of love. If you feel like you're working yourself to death, you need to start doing what you love... so you can live!