Relief

Crystal Cove

 

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary 

and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 

  Take my yoke upon you. 

Let me teach you, 

because I am humble and gentle at heart,

 and you will find rest for your souls.

 For my yoke is easy to bear,

and the burden I give you is light.” 

Matt 11:28-30 (NLT)

Here we are on vacation, resting on the beach at beautiful Crystal Cove,  thinking about the rest and freedom God has for us.

Jesus came to set us free.  What do we need to be set free from?  The Bible tells us that we are slaves of sin.  The tendencies of our human nature bring us down, tie us up, making things unpleasant and unhappy.  

These are the heavy burdens that we bear, the things that we struggle with all of our lives.   All of our problems stem from our tendencies toward pride, arrogance, self-centeredness which give rise to fears, resentments, quarrels and fights.

Jesus offers us rest from the effects of all of these things.  He calls us to come to him, to unite our lives with him.  When we yoke ourselves with him his strength carries us along.  When we join ourselves to him, taking our eyes off ourselves and focusing on him we have a new perspective and a new outlook.  What a relief to rest ourselves in him.