Matthew 11:28 “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.”
Jesus is talking to people here who have been following God the only way they know how. The “way” was chiseled out by God – and then a man made system was handwritten in the margins. And even for those who longed for more, all the doing and sacrificing and performing and pleasing must have left them aching at the end of the day…starving for just a taste of the God behind the veil. Surely, in the midst of all the trying and hoop-jumping, every true God-seeker was longing to catch a glimpse of His face and to know that for even just a moment, they had been seen by Him.
And then came Jesus.
This question He asks: “are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?” is the first indication to them that He knows their secrets. He sees where no one else can see and He cares about the frustrations that live behind the the frenzied actions. I can imagine that every head began to nod and every eye began to well with tears.
Yes, we’re tired.
Worn out? Absolutely.
Burned out on the system? Without a doubt. But it’s all we have. It’s the only visible gauge available for measuring our right standing with the invisible God. There is no other system…is there?
“Come to Me.”
Wow.
“Get away with Me and you will recover your life.” Big, big, BIG words. They had – in the process of serving and striving – lost the life in their lives. KJV says “you shall find rest for your souls.” That word rest means “intermission or recreation”. In the midst of the busyness of following God, they had lost the powerful pause that needs to built into it all – not for impressing Him, but for enjoying Him. They needed to recover the pause…the intermission…the whole meaning of real LIFE. Because in those moments of meeting with Him, He fits His yoke on us. He shows us how to “walk with Him and work with Him.” Clearly, what they thought was “with Him” before, was not. Much of the activity that was wearing them down and burning them out was – in fact – worthless. Shoot. That’s frustrating. And freeing. And really pretty wonderful.
Loving the pause,
Bo
Love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. I’m sure you’ve already heard it, but you should listen to Casey’s song The Moment We Break. It makes me cry every time and it’s definitely worth a download, even before that darn CD ever gets out.
I believe much of our walk with the Lord is all about being in recovery…I love that translation…that by coming to Him…we will in fact recover our life…exchanging what we thought life was and learning what life lived in Him is…sometimes if I dwell on how I thought I was “doing it right”…I could just curl up in a ball and never get up again…but Thanks be to God…He is much too loving and tender to leave me on the cold lineleum…for that I am grateful…eternally.
Thanks Bo…you always stir up my soul in a deep challenging way yet I know you are on the same road…so I am so glad I have company on this stroll.
Peace to you,
Helen
Helen, I’ve recently become familiar with the lines of the linoleum myself…but I think I’m seeing the light of day. 🙂 That translation made me think of how we say “I gave my whole life to that …ministry/relationship/job…” and I was wondering how many times we give our LIFE life – the very thing that Jesus came to give back to us. Anyway…this one is still forming in my head, but thanks for the encouragement in the journey.
Katie – I will download forthwith and immediately. I hope YOU get a great pause this week. It’s been a busy…um…decade. 🙂