"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29 Amplified Bible It's important that we rest. Jesus saw His disciples and all that they were doing and He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while (Mark 6:31)." It's clear this is not a call to procrastination, stagnation, dreary life, or lethargy. It just means we need to work super hard, play really well, worship authentically, and rest deeply.

It's simple. When we aren't bogged down and fatigued, we are better able to hear from God and to have the strength to do what He is asking of us. We must factor in rest so we can operate at full-capacity.

Jesus got away. He made His disciples get away. God Himself took time to rest after He labored (Genesis 2:2). We do well to follow after the example of our Father versus the pervasive patterns of the moment-by-moment, jam-packed schedules of our culture.

To be effective in our generation, we've got to proceed through life with God's wisdom, His timing, and His pace, not just relentless human elbow grease and determination to "do a work for the Lord." God doesn't need us to do a work for Him. He's not served by human hands (Acts 17:25). However, He does allow us to partner with Him to make a difference in the lives of our generation (1 Corinthians 3:9). Let's follow His lead—stop and get rejuvenated—so we can be the best, most rested and raring-to-go partners possible.

Rest on!
Pastor Jeff



© 2007 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.