Friday January 19, 2024
Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Not all sinners are weary of sin.
There are many who as yet have no need of a physician. They sin freely, or at least in relative peace.
I feel sorry for you, my friend. You are in great danger.
To sin is terrible, but to sin unperturbed is even more terrible.
Jesus speaks here to those who are heavy laden. They sin no longer with joy or in peace. They have been awakened from their restless sleep. They labor, Jesus says. Yes, they labor more than others know.
They strive against their sins. Against all their sins; in word, in deed, in thought, in imagination, in desire.
They labor in prayer. How they struggle and labor in their prayer chamber! They labor in connection with their reading of the Word of God. It is almost harder for them to read the Bible than to pray.
Their lot is indeed a heavy one, heavier than they will acknowledge to others. In fact, heavier often than they will admit to themselves.
Jesus says here that He gives rest.
But you have become so heavy-hearted and restless since you began to take refuge in Jesus. You have never been more restless than you are now.
Indeed! Everything has gone just as it should.
That is the way it must go. Jesus must first make the restful restless. He has to show you who you are. You have not known it before. Remember that Jesus preached the entire Sermon on the Mount before He spoke these words in Matthew 11.
But now you shall receive rest. To be saved you need only be a sinner who would conceal no sin but would cast herself down at the foot of the cross with it all, placing her whole lost cause in the hands of Jesus.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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