Vol. 16 No. 07
“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.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV84)
It has been a long full week. Pressures at work have been even more intense than usual. Deadlines are getting closer. Conversations are getting more strained. Because of the pressures at work your home life is suffering. It is time to rest.
The weekend was great! Traveled for hours for a time of spiritual refreshment. The schedule was full. The emotions were all over the place. You were refreshed, revived and restored. And your energy was depleted. It is time to rest.
Your vacation was the vacation of your dreams. You did everything you had dreamed of doing. You went everywhere you had ever hoped to go. You saw things up close that you had only seen in photographs. Now it is over. Now it is time to rest.
You have not had a day away from the children in weeks. You and your husband have not had a real date in months. You are tired. You are frazzled. You are on the brink. It is time to rest.
You have studied for the test for months. You have not taken a break in days. You keep thinking once you get beyond the test you take some time off, but it seems like an eternity away. It is time to rest.
We push. We shove. We put stress on ourselves. We feel pressure from others. We deal with it. We don’t deal with it. We ignore it. We try to pretend that it does not exist. It does.
We talk about rest. We think about rest. We talk about how must we need to rest. We talk about how difficult it is to find time to rest. We talk about the consequences of not taking time to rest.
Jesus’ words are an invitation that we need to heed. The words are more than just nice sounding words. The words are a promise that that there is a better way. The words promise that with God’s help life can be lived at a different pace, a better pace, an easier pace, and a healthier pace.
The words are good words and wise words. But unless we hear and heed the words they will always be just words. Jesus invites us to rest. Jesus is inviting you to rest. Is it time for rest for your soul?
Tom
A Norvell Note © Copyright 2013. Tom Norvell All Rights Reserved.