Have you ever felt overwhelmed or exhausted by the busyness of life? We are so often preoccupied, and in turn we can struggle to feel a sense of satisfaction or purpose. As you open your time of reflection, consider the words found in our call to worship from Matthew 11. Christ lovingly calls us to himself where we find the fulfillment and rest we were created for.
28 Come to me, all 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.”
Do you know what the word “yoke” means? A yoke is a type of harness that is put on farm animals like oxen to help carry something heavy or do hard work like plowing a field. You can think of being “yoked” to someone or something as being under them or directed by them.
What might it mean when Jesus tells us to take on his yoke?
What does Jesus promise in these verses?
Pray: Father, it is only in you that we find comfort and satisfaction. We confess that we often prefer to live for ourselves. We feel the weight of sin and brokenness every day. But you are at work in your creation. Through your grace in Jesus, we find rest and comfort for our souls.
This week we heard good news preached from Genesis 1 and 2. We were reminded that God always finishes what he starts, that creation reflects design and intentionality, and that we were ultimately created for rest. The trajectory of Scripture is moving fully and finally towards Jesus, towards a promise of rest.
As you read theses verses from Genesis 1, consider what they tell us about purpose, about what and who we were created for:
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
What do you think it means to rest? Are there certain activities, times, or places that come to mind?
After God created, the very first experience of humanity was of rest, God dwelling with his creation in perfect harmony:
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
When the Bible talks about rest, it is not just talking about inaction. The rest we were created for is meant to define the entirety of our lives. It’s found in the daily rhythm of living out the Gospel, it’s intention, satisfaction, enjoying, and delighting.
How is the Gospel working rest and Gospel rhythm into your everyday life? Are there areas where you are growing in your understanding of worship and obedience as it relates to your work and relationships?
As we begin our series in the book of Revelation, think about how the trajectory of Scripture is pointing to restoration in Jesus. We have hope in the promise of God once again dwelling with us. This hope is beautifully reflected in this resurrection prayer by Augustine of Hippo:
All shall be Amen and Alleluia.
We shall rest and we shall see.
We shall see and we shall know.
We shall know and we shall love.
We shall love and we shall praise.
Behold our end, which is no end.
Pray: Jesus, your life, death, and resurrection bring the promise of restoration. Help us to find comfort in the knowledge that you are redeeming the entirety of your creation. Reorient our lives around the Gospel so that we would seek to love you, our neighbor, and the place that you have put us.
As you look forward to next week, meditate on the verses below and pray that our hearts would be opened to receive the good news of the Gospel.
Hebrews 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
Acts 2:21 ‘And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
1 Corinthians 10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
1 Corinthians 10:11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.