Devotional by Lumtaso Ingti Kathar
Tika Youth Members
"Working for God starts with resting in Him"
Rest: To rest is to get to the point of being released from the heavy burden of life through the yoke of Jesus which he offered us to come and take from Him.
Being born in a village, one of my fond childhood memories was boating an old wooden dugout canoe with a capacity for three persons, beyond which the limited capacity would results in sinking under water, during which many times my nose gets hurt internally when water passed inside it. Sometimes life has a way of weighing us down especially when life’s burden and storms overwhelmed us, and at such time we experience the panic we encounter as we go through the trouble waters. Fortunately we don’t need to bear that all by ourselves, instead we can take our burdens to the Lord and let Him bless us through them. In line with this thought I entitled my sermon “Living for God Starts with Resting in Him. (Prayer/Lets Pray)
It was on Saturday in the year 2016 during the second semester I got a called from my mom at early midnight while I was working on my assignment informing me that my dad was seriously sick, caused by Japanese Encephalitis Virus which was infected from the kind of Japanese Encephalitis mosquito bite. I heard my mother’s voice with a tears in her eyes. Shocked by the news I kept away my books aside and started to pray, after which I tried to continue on with my assignment but realized that my mind was deviated out of order. Then later around 3 am with my best efforts I decided to sleep, only to find myself still awake after an hour. It took another half an hour to finally get a rest. The next day I woke up at late morning missing the appointment of going to church, then after having lunch I found myself with an unusual feelings of what would happened to my dad. After all we have a very big family. My heart was heavy, my mind not in a working order, worries and anxieties had almost occupied my life, and weighed me so much down from which I couldn’t lift up myself from it. As a result of mixed feelings and thoughts I started asking myself, reflecting about my Christian life. I was born and raised in a Christian family, accepted Christ during my 10 standards and born again Christian from that year onwards, but why should I allow this life’s storm and burdens to weigh me so much down? Why is my daily personal devotion time with the Bible and My Utmost For His Highest devotional seems a mere spiritual formalities than trusting Jesus Himself at His words? Through all the years I realized I didn’t know what it means to spiritually Rest? After all its Sunday, a resting day why am I not getting a rest? These were the questions that popped in my mind on that particular day.
Looking through the window to the view towards the hostel garage from the top floor from where I was sitting on the chair of my allotted room on that year, incidentally to my surprise I flip my Bible page on my table to Matthew Chapter 11:28-30 where I saw something special about that passage. I supposed it was a familiar scene in the Bible all the past years, but walking through that verses was something altogether different on that Sunday. I found a special powerfully profound lesson as I began to re-read from the beginning of the first chapter to the 11th chapter of the Matthew’s gospel. Thus, discovering a new journey to be taken that Jesus awaits.
Jesus called the disciples and sent them to proclaim the good news but He also went to their cities and invited others to come find rest in Him. As a believer, I believe that all of us are called by God, and sent by Him, but we can also come find rest in Him and walk with Him regardless of the present situation we may find ourselves.
In Matthew Chapter 4: 18-22 we see Jesus called His first disciples, Simon who is called Peter and his brother Andrew to follow Him, later in Matthew 6:33 along with others they were encouraged not to worry about their life’s basic needs, “But strive first for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given…” In Chapter 9:9, after Jesus called another disciple, Matthew, to follow Him, we later found in verses 36-38 that the disciples are told to pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest for He saw the crowd like sheep without a shepherd. And in Chapter 10 we find Jesus sending out His twelve disciples for His
mission to proclaim the good news, and later in Chapter 11 we find Jesus teaching and proclaiming His message when He went to the disciples’ cities, and issued His invitation: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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.” For the disciples when Jesus called them He knows about their needs to which He assured them that it will be provided only if they seek to focus on His Kingdom and righteousness, and work on their mission in proclaiming the good news, and also most importantly He cares about their people that He went to their cities to teach and proclaim His message. We see that Jesus not only teaches His disciples and others, but also backed them up with His assurance of provisions, for which we have enough reasons to rest in Him.
Therefore in times of wear and tear with life’s burdens in our daily life, we can learn to
(1) Respond to Jesus’ invitation to come rest in Him
(2) Accept His free-given offering of special bond /self-revealing provision of His yoke given to us – a special bond
(3) Taste His goodness.
The Message Bible Version puts Chapter 11:28-30 in this way: “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”.
Here in verse 28 NRSV, Jesus addressed His invitation in light of the truth that God is as Jesus reveals Him to be (v. 27). The Jewish religious authorities to whom Jesus ironically described as “the wise and learned” (11:23) put so much of rulings and interpretations to the Torah (the Law of Moses) that become a heavy burden for ordinary people. In contrast, all who come to Jesus will find rest. A rest that coherent from the concept of the day God rested after the work of creation, the seventh day to which Israel declared as the Sabbath day, to the concept of rest that gradually connects with the coming of the messianic age. In verse 29 the idea of yoke is to show how it was used to harness two draught animals as to pull a plough or a cart relating to that of Torah as a yoke for religious authorities (see Acts 15:10). In contrast to submitting the religious authorities and their misinterpretation of the Torah, when people come to Him they would experience the rest associated with the messianic Kingdom and realize that He was gentle and humble in heart as they learn from Him and would find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (v. 30). Thus, we can be assured that resting in Jesus well suitably position us to meet our needs and for our good.
And that’s where a complete meaningful journey can start, a journey we will never regret if we will only “come” and “rest” in Him no matter what storms or burdens may wear us down, for walking everyday through our bond of friendship with Jesus can lift our spirits in the midst of all the trouble waters. Oswald Chambers wrote, “…all the time God has stood with His hands outstretched not only to take you but also for you to take Him. Just think of the invincible, unconquerable, and untiring patience of Jesus, who lovingly says, “Come to Me…” When adversaries and life’s burdens weigh us down may we instead consider as an opportunities to willingly act on coming to Him. As it is quoted from the words of St. Augustine, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You”. As we study and work in our mission fields, may we be encouraged to allow God work through our lives by resting in Him, and be assured in the knowledge that He cares about our families, friends, and our peoples.
(And in one of My Utmost For His Highest devotionals, it was written, “If you abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, “Come,” then He will continue to say, “Come,” through you. You will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ’s “Come.” That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus.”)
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