Rest In the Lord

“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.” – Matthew 11:28-30

March is here, and spring has officially sprung! For me, spring means a full calendar and an endless cycle of events and deadlines. I often get caught up in just making it to the next weekend, the next school break, or just summer. Half of the fun in doing something is checking it off my list! This is not the way God intended our lives to be.

One of the first lessons God teaches in the Bible is the importance of rest.

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” – Genesis 2:2

After God had finished His masterpiece of creation, He did not say, “Whew! Glad that’s finally over!” He did not immediately move on to something bigger and better to check off his to-do list. He rested. He recognized that what He had done was good, and he paused to rest.

We will not find joy and satisfaction in filling our plates too high and spreading ourselves too thin. Our identity and worth should not be in achieving, performing, serving, and constantly doing; we find who we are and what our true purpose is by resting in the Father and conforming to His image. When we say “yes” to so many other things in our lives to keep us too busy, we are actually saying “no” to God.

So, this spring, let us not weigh ourselves down with too many commitments or keep living for the next break. He is the True Vine, and we are the branches. He designed us to abide in Him, to dwell with him in peace and receive rest for our souls so we can live the abundant lives He has planned for us. He has so much more for us than checking things off our to-do lists and running ourselves ragged. Let us go to Him, all who are weary, and He will give us rest.

By: Milligan Williams, PCA junior