The Concept of Rest: The Unforced Rhythms of Grace

 Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).  There is a rhythm to life: the rhythm of the falling rain that comes down from heaven and watereth the earth that it may bring forth seed for the sower and bread for the eater. 

There is the unforced rhythm of grace that flowed from Calvary’s mountain to sin-sick souls, bringing salvation and life to all who believe. 

Weeping may endure for the night, a particular time in one’s life, but joy will rise on the pulse of morning if one will keep the faith. 

Are you tired? Worn out? Jaded, and burned out with organized world systems of naught? Jesus says to you in Matthew 11:28-30, “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.” (The Message Bible p. 1504)

Biblical notation of the King James version of the Holy Bible refer to Matthew 11:28-30 as Jesus’ New Message, not the Kingdom, but personal discipleship. You recall in Matthew 4:17, “Jesus began to preach, and to say, repent: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Jesus was referring to Himself as the King who had come to earth to establish His Heavenly Kingdom. 

However, rejected at Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum where He had done mighty works, Jesus turned from the rejecting nations and offered rest and service to the ordinary people such as you and me who need rest from a labored life. It was a pivotal inclusive point in the ministry of Jesus “from repent” to also “come unto me.”

Jesus’ rest is Salvation’s love, joy, and peace as an inward state of being. It is the soul’s hiding place, the sundown of anxiety and stress. For a hurried, paced, and pressured life is not worth living. Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain telling you who you are in Jesus- a calm ripple upon life’s sea. Jesus says “come ye apart into a desert place and rest awhile …” (Mark 6:31)

In rest and true worship you will find your rhythm and real self alive and accounted for. Jesus is our rest. Sometimes we may not fully recognize this contemplation until our senior years of generativity, when we come to a realization of our true nature and are able to give back to life and others. 

Out of Jesus’ rest, we get our true calling to live Godly contented lives. Our call from God comes out of our rest. It is out of my rested soul that I, (put your name here) can say as Jehovah God said to Moses in Exodus 3:14: “I AM THAT I AM.” Child of light, this is your Christ-affirmed existence by the grace, mercy, and power of God. Amen.