Our Eternal Sabbath Rest

‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28‭-‬30‬ [28] Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  [29] 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.  [30] For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Many of us quote verse 28 when we want to point out that we can find true rest in Christ. My question to us all is, "Rest from what?" For many of us life is busy to the point of having much anxiety and stress. That stress and anxiety, if unchecked, will lead to our bodies breaking down and will result in sickness and illnesses that often take us out of commission. So, is the rest Jesus speaks of rest from anxiety, stress, and the busyness of life? Well, in the longrun, yes. However, Jesus was speaking of a rest that is far more important and beneficial to each and every one of us. In this chapter, right before Jesus said this, He spoke of the condemnation that was in store for the people of all the cities where He performed great works, yet they refused to repent of their sins. Immediately thereafter He extended this invitation of receiving a rest that we could find only in Him. That rest is the freedom from being enslaved to our attempts at pleasing God by way of our own works. God already made it clear in the Book of Isaiah that ALL our works of righteousness are like filthy rags to Him, when done outside of Christ and in our own feeble attempts to earn our way into His favor, and into Heaven. It was for this reason that Jesus came. He came to pay a price we could never pay for ourselves. He chose to suffer physically, emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually (when He cried out, "My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?!"), and lay down His life. He did that for us. Keep in mind that He gave this invitation before He actually went to the cross, because to Him it was already accomplished. So today, this invitation to come to Him to find rest is first and foremost an invitation to believe, by faith, what He did on the cross, that He rose again, and to call on Him for salvation, repenting of our sins and asking for forgiveness. Hebrews 4 tells us that there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God who put their faith in Him, and do not fall short because of unbelief, as the Israelites did in the wilderness and were not allowed to enter the rest of the Promise Land. When we put aside our tireless attempts at trying to earn our own way, only then can we find true rest in Christ. Once we possess that rest in Jesus, then He will lead us by His Spirit so that we can also find rest from the anxiety, stress, and busyness of life that the enemy want to use to break us down. The only rest that any of us will truly benefit from is the rest that can only be found and possessed in Jesus Christ, our Eternal Sabbath Rest.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Romans 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Romans 10:13).