Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV)
Are you living in the rest that Jesus promises? If you aren’t, it may be a good idea to ask yourself, “why not?” Is it possible that you have not responded to Jesus’ invitation to “Come to Me?” If you haven’t, I encourage you to do so today.
Just as Jesus promises us rest for our souls, we have an enemy, Satan, who is the enemy of our souls and as such, he seeks to steal that rest from us. Any number of things can happen in a person’s life to interfere with that rest; depression, loneliness, grief, physical infirmity, marital strife, any type of abuse, etc. Life can throw things at us that are unpleasant and just simply make life tough, but when that happens, let’s remember that Jesus also promises us “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22)
Admittedly, there have been days in my life when I have started out my day with the attitude that I am too busy to take time to pray. On those days, I have been frazzled and disorganized – certainly not at peace.
Even though it was a long time ago that I accepted Jesus’ invitation to come to Him for the first time, I have been reminded many times since then, that my response to Jesus isn’t a one – time thing. His invitation to come to Him, as well as His promise to give me rest when I do, never expires or becomes invalid. Sometimes, we can become focused on past mistakes or missed opportunities, which cause us to live in regret, but with Jesus, as long as we have breath, it is never too late to accept His invitation. When we do, it can be a new day for us as, “His mercies are new every morning. “
On the days when I do take time to spend with the Lord in prayer, my day inevitably goes much better. I am more peaceful, calmer, and stronger, despite whatever troubles come my way. Jesus is waiting for you to accept His invitation as well. He wants to give you rest, regardless of whatever unrest may be in your life.
My prayer today is, “Lord Jesus, I am thankful that I can come to you every day. I invite you to come into my life today. I know I did some things wrong yesterday and other days in the past, but I know today can be a new day for me, so please forgive me for all that is past. Please help me to rest in you, even when things are difficult in my life. Amen.”
