2 Rests

2 Rests!

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:28‭-‬29 KJV

Today's extract speaks of two rests. There is one that comes from turning to Jesus; it is an open invitation to all men everywhere. By default, all of us were once at this point. We fell into sin and took on burdens that were not ours in the first place. We took on the lies of the devil, exchanging the glory of God for the false tokens of greatness and glory the enemy promised. Sin came; and with it, lifetime burdens. Oh, sin has power. You know it by the burdens and limits it places on all those who are under its power. No matter how hard a man pretends, the fruit of sin can never be hidden. It manifests in different ways and the end of it is eternal death. 

However, in Christ, the solution to sin is presented: having taken on sin and defeated its power, he offers life to all who come to him. He tells all who are burdened by sin and have taken on heavy loads which God did not give them to come to him. He does not ask for any monetary price: just total surrender to and embrace of all that He offers. In total surrender is rest, the first kind. It is a rest from fruitless labour, or a labour that deceives a man into thinking that he can earn rest by human effort or critical and strategic thinking. None of the world's processes can earn for you what only total surrender can. That is the first rest. 

Please note that in the second rest, you don't get to walk away from all responsibilities. The second rest is not sleep and relaxation, but a rest from fruitless labour. Now you are walking with an eternal God and working for an eternal reward. Jesus has a yoke; those who preach that in Jesus there is no more work or labour need to read this extract again. In this second rest, my life is targeted. I don't fight like one beating the air or run aimlessly; all I do now is towards the determined end: life eternal. That walk with God involves learning of him every day; each day is an opportunity for discovery. I can't come to the total knowledge of God on this side of earth, but I can make sure I am becoming more like him on a daily basis, as I surrender my heart to Him. 

Let it be clear: you can't claim the second rest without getting the first rest. The first rest is salvation: the freedom from the power of sin. The first rest guarantees the second rest and the second rest never really ends as it just transits into eternal life, either by physical death or rapture. I have the life of Jesus as the perfect example; his life has to become my life. His gift is free for me; I will not have any excuse if I do not take advantage of what is on offer. His yoke requires that I work for him, but the work is fruitful because it is done with the help of the one who commissioned it. He gives the rests; no man, no matter how powerful, can give you that which he does not have. God has the rests, and he offers them. Would I lay hold of them? God's time of favour is here.