“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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
If you turn on your television or open you mailbox today, you can’t help but be inundated with ads for all the “stuff” that people want to sell you this holiday season. So much of what is being sold to us these days falls into the category of “wants” not “needs”. Things that didn’t even exist 20 years ago, have now become things that so many of us feel we can’t live without. The race is on to get the newest, best and brightest thing that is out there today and by tomorrow the race will changed. Jesus’ words in Matthew invite us to stop racing around and to simply rest. The kind of rest Jesus is talking about is not the rest that comes from finally having all we want but rest for our souls. ”Soul rest” comes from learning from Jesus. May we find our burdens to be light this Advent as we fix our eyes on Jesus.
Action: Think of one thing in your life, material or not, that you are using to fulfill a need that really should be sought from elsewhere.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to lay down my heavy burdens and to learn from you by fixing my eyes upon you. Give me true rest that lightens my burdens as you remind me how to reorder my life to focus on you. Amen.