Open Invitation

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.” Matt 11:28-30

Have you ever had a friend whose house was truly “open”? Like you could stop by anytime, any day. An open invitation. These sort of homes people are drawn to. We feel totally accepted and not even just that, but we feel wanted. These are the sort of friends that we all long for. In the scripture in Matthew I feel like Jesus is extending a true “open invitation” when He says “Come to Me…”. He invites us to come to Him and I would add in there (anytime, any day!)  

The next part of this scripture describes our state. The weary and burdened. I know that when I feel overwhelmed my first reaction is not always to run to Jesus, I want it to be that, but it’s not always. I feel like I initially try to manage and handle life with my own logic and understanding before… THEN when I REALLY can’t do it that’s when I run to Jesus. I hate that this is my natural reaction to a heavy and burdened heart. Jesus is so honest and He desires us. He wants to be the One to be our REST. When I cannot handle life and the difficulties or burdens I am carrying HE is just waiting for me to come over to His house and hang out with Him so I can feel HIS rest. He knows His house is comfortable and warm and the fridge is always full!   

One thing that I have felt God speak to me time and time again is that He wants to teach me Himself. He wants me to learn from Him directly. I do not have to depend on other people’s understanding or logic but He wants to be my personal tutor! Other people have incredible value and amazing perspective, but ultimately they are not God. So I utilize the wise people in my life and gain from there insight. BUT God is the One who brings change and true heart and soul lessons. Too often we place man’s thoughts as gold without ever consulting God.

God’s beautiful promise in these verses is mind blowing. Life changing. He tells us that if we come to Him, learn from Him and really just seek Him… we will find rest for our souls. This sort of rest is not just a good nap and feeling energized; it is a deep inner rest and peace that can only be brought by Christ’s kingship in our lives. With this sort of inner rest, God can speak; God can manage and carry our burdens for us. When we have “unrest” in our souls we just scrounge for scraps and struggle to keep our head above water. God never wants us JUST to exist, He was us to LIVE. And living can be very difficult without accepting that open invitation to come to Him.