Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:2, NIV)
If you are looking to find rest through what you have promised to do for God, you will never be finished. This is the root of many of our struggles. You want to do something great and you are relentless in your pursuit of it. But somehow it is never done.
God wants to turn the tables on you. He comes to you in the gospel and says, “You are so consumed with what you want to do for me. Let me tell you what I have done for you: I sent my Son for you. He went to the cross for you. He rose from the dead for you. He is seated in heaven for you.”
Jesus will clothe you with a perfect righteousness that you cannot achieve. He will give you a song of joy so that you can work and serve, not in order to prove something to God, but with the freedom and gratitude of one who has received all things from God.
That is what Jesus meant when he said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mat. 11:28). There is no rest in your promise to God. Rest is found only in God’s promise to you.
Does this gospel sound like good news to you? Why or why not?
