“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 (The Message)
There is something about this paraphrased ‘translation’ that is so appealing.
It doesn’t lose any of the meaning of the original. Rather it adds context and depth of meaning to it.
The NKJV version reads,
“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.”
Yet there is something about the way The Message puts it that really helps me to understand the fullness of what Jesus is telling us here.
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?
We all get tired and worn down, if not exactly worn out, from time to time.
Certainly, there is something about religion and religious people that burns up our energy.
This is because Satan, the enemy, is so very good at taunting us with religion. He cannot taunt us very much about faith because faith and religion are not good bedfellows.
But we do get so tired, worn, and burned out by all our religion.
Come to Me!
Jesus answers our tiredness with a simple ‘Come to Me.’
Why? Because He is our answer. He is our refuge and our ever-present help in times of trouble.
“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.”
When we rest in Jesus, when we give Him our ‘troubles’ — our tiredness, our worn out and burnt out minds and bodies — that is when He gives us His Peace.
Learn the unforced rhythms of Grace!
Grace is our unearned favor from God.
Grace is the state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God.
There is a rhythm of grace that flows from the throne of God — relentless and un-ending.
God’s Grace covers us throughout our entire life.
“I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me, and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
I don’t know of anyone who has been asked by God to do the impossible because, as the popular phrase has it, “Whom God calls, He qualifies, and whom He qualifies, He enables”.
He knows exactly what we can and cannot do so He never lays too much on us, and with Him walking alongside, we have His grace to carry us through to victory and success.
I pray these are some comforting thoughts to enhance your day.
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