“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. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” —Matthew 11:28–30 (The Message)“Why is a Sabbath Rest Day so important?” Jesus answered that question three ways. First,
We need soul recovery
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life”
Truth be told, we are in a battle for souls. The enemy of our soul is trying--every moment that he can--to trip us up, to discourage us, and to destroy us if it were possible. That is our day-to-day reality.
You may be reading this and your soul is tired, anxious, or some may even be angry. You’ve been in the battle and your soul has been effected. So many people are in need of a break. It's more than a break they need; they need “revitalization" (life recovery).
Jesus is teaching that the weariness that comes from that spiritual battle can be overcome as we retreat to Jesus for rest. As we spend that one day out of the seven focused on Him, spending time with Him, gleaning truth from Him. When we practice that rhythm, He recovers our soul.
I’ve got a bike that I periodically ride. The other day my son and I met one of his friends for lunch down in the center of the city where we live. As we prepped our bikes, we realized that the tires were flat. We had to pump them up. I’ve since ridden the bike a couple of times and I haven’t had to put more air in the tires. But periodically they need to be inflated. That’s like us. We need to be re-inflated periodically. Otherwise we’re going to run on flat tires. Our souls get flat. If we’re not taking the time to REST and to be with Jesus to recover, what should we expect? King David made it clear in Psalm 95, if we don't cling to Him we will not go anywhere. We will be stay stuck in defeat.
The context of Matthew 11:28-30 is Jesus exhorting those who refused to learn. He is comparing them to Sodom and Gomorra. He’s actually saying that the people who experienced His ministry and His miracles and had not repented were worse than the people of Sodom and Gomorra.
But then in verse 27 it says:
He is saying to those who are unrepentant--who have heard the truth and yet don’t turn to Him--THAT IT IS BEYOND FRUSTRATING TO HIM, AND THERE WILL BE ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCES. But for those who are tired and seek Him out--those who have been attacked all week long, those of us who’ve made mistakes (we’ve sinned) in the midst of our battle--He is saying we will find rest in Him; we will experience His gentleness and His humility even thought we don’t deserve it. When we practice Sabbath Day Rests we will experience the rhythm of His Grace and we will learn from it. In the practice of Sabbath Rest we learn how to be gracious.
I know this to be true. If I’m not experiencing Jesus’s grace—taking the time to experience His grace—I’m not as able to pour grace out for others. If I’m living in busy-ness, noisy-ness, worry-ness, fearfulness (all the characteristics of a restless person) it’s more difficult for me to share GRACE with others. When my wife or my kids come to me in my distraction, I have unfortunately responded with a sharp response rather than a gracious attitude. The restful person is a delight to be around where as the restless person seems like they are distracted.
It is light in that God Himself is done, He is at rest. God created for 6 days and then He rested on the seventh. Jesus worked His work all the way to the cross and then He said “It is finished.” God/Jesus is at rest.
We need this reminder of truth. It’s not our working that brings us closer and more intimate with Jesus and His Father. But rather it is the working that He has done that we need to lean into that brings us closer to Him.
You may be reading this and your soul is tired, anxious, or some may even be angry. You’ve been in the battle and your soul has been effected. So many people are in need of a break. It's more than a break they need; they need “revitalization" (life recovery).
Jesus is teaching that the weariness that comes from that spiritual battle can be overcome as we retreat to Jesus for rest. As we spend that one day out of the seven focused on Him, spending time with Him, gleaning truth from Him. When we practice that rhythm, He recovers our soul.
I’ve got a bike that I periodically ride. The other day my son and I met one of his friends for lunch down in the center of the city where we live. As we prepped our bikes, we realized that the tires were flat. We had to pump them up. I’ve since ridden the bike a couple of times and I haven’t had to put more air in the tires. But periodically they need to be inflated. That’s like us. We need to be re-inflated periodically. Otherwise we’re going to run on flat tires. Our souls get flat. If we’re not taking the time to REST and to be with Jesus to recover, what should we expect? King David made it clear in Psalm 95, if we don't cling to Him we will not go anywhere. We will be stay stuck in defeat.
"‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” Ps. 95:11 (Read the all 95 for context)
Sabbath Rest gives our souls recovery.
Second, practicing Sabbath Rest Day is important because,
Second, practicing Sabbath Rest Day is important because,
We learn grace in rest
The context of Matthew 11:28-30 is Jesus exhorting those who refused to learn. He is comparing them to Sodom and Gomorra. He’s actually saying that the people who experienced His ministry and His miracles and had not repented were worse than the people of Sodom and Gomorra.
But then in verse 27 it says:
Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. …And Jesus goes on to say a couple verses over:
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.Jesus shifted his righteous indignation against those who rebel against Him to a soft and gentle approach to those who follow Him.
He is saying to those who are unrepentant--who have heard the truth and yet don’t turn to Him--THAT IT IS BEYOND FRUSTRATING TO HIM, AND THERE WILL BE ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCES. But for those who are tired and seek Him out--those who have been attacked all week long, those of us who’ve made mistakes (we’ve sinned) in the midst of our battle--He is saying we will find rest in Him; we will experience His gentleness and His humility even thought we don’t deserve it. When we practice Sabbath Day Rests we will experience the rhythm of His Grace and we will learn from it. In the practice of Sabbath Rest we learn how to be gracious.
I know this to be true. If I’m not experiencing Jesus’s grace—taking the time to experience His grace—I’m not as able to pour grace out for others. If I’m living in busy-ness, noisy-ness, worry-ness, fearfulness (all the characteristics of a restless person) it’s more difficult for me to share GRACE with others. When my wife or my kids come to me in my distraction, I have unfortunately responded with a sharp response rather than a gracious attitude. The restful person is a delight to be around where as the restless person seems like they are distracted.
Sabbath’s
Rest teaches us Graciousness through our experience with Christ.
Finally, Jesus said Sabbath Day Rest is important because,
Finally, Jesus said Sabbath Day Rest is important because,
We are reminded of truth
The
Pharisees placed heavy burdens on the people. They said, "you have to do this and not
do this on the Sabbath in order to be right before God." They taught that you had to work for
the Sabbath. The people were weighted down with their expectations. That still happens today. We have a tendency to
put similar expectations on ourselves.
That’s the whole idea of "Man being created for the Sabbath and not Sabbath being created for us" (Mark 2:27).
If we make our Sabbath Rest all about work--I gotta do this and I gotta do that and can't forget to get this done to please God or the people around me--then we’ve bought into the lie of the Pharisees. Jesus said:
That’s the whole idea of "Man being created for the Sabbath and not Sabbath being created for us" (Mark 2:27).
If we make our Sabbath Rest all about work--I gotta do this and I gotta do that and can't forget to get this done to please God or the people around me--then we’ve bought into the lie of the Pharisees. Jesus said:
My yoke is easy and My burden is light.We might be asking, "In what way is His yoke easy and His burden light?"
It is light in that God Himself is done, He is at rest. God created for 6 days and then He rested on the seventh. Jesus worked His work all the way to the cross and then He said “It is finished.” God/Jesus is at rest.
We need this reminder of truth. It’s not our working that brings us closer and more intimate with Jesus and His Father. But rather it is the working that He has done that we need to lean into that brings us closer to Him.
It
is so easy to revert back to the natural, sinful person. The person who buys
into the lie of our culture that teaches we have to work for approval, work
for our good and work to get ahead.
God’s
truth is: If you don’t rely on me—obey me—you will never get ahead.
Learn to rest.
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