Series: Follow the Signs
Title: Pull into the Rest Area
Matthew 11:28-30 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
28 "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Last week we talked about hearing the call of God in our lives and answering it.
This week we want to look at another popular street sign.
Rest Area
Have you ever been on a trip, vacation etc. and you’ve driving a long time?
Boy, doesn’t it feel great when you see that Rest Area Sign?
Just a few weeks ago we were in the motorhome coming home from Wyoming and I was driving. Stacey was sitting in the passenger seat doing what she usually does…sleeping!
I was soooo tired. I was dosing off and nodding off and was getting a little worried.
Then I saw it. Rest Area ahead. I couldn’t wait to get my tired, weary self off that highway and into the rest area.
I parked and layed down on the couch and about an hour later I woke up. I was refreshed and ready to finish the trip.
I don’t know what I would have done without the rest area.
Some of us today are in need of a rest area!
Life is coming at us from all different directions.
Maybe in your life today:
Work is so hectic and busy and and you’re putting in so many hours, you just don’t know how long you can keep it up
Your marriage is in a place that is not good for you and not honoring to god
Your children are rebelling or going in a direction that you know will end up hurting them.
You feel dry inside spiritually. Your well is all dryed up.
Financial problems are plagueing you and making you feel like you’re in a corner and you just can’t get out
You have a burden of a sin area of your life and it just keeps you tied up in knots all of the time
You and I need to stop in at the heavenly rest area.
Come unto me all you the labour and are heavily burdened….
I will give you rest!!
God wants to provide us with rest and peace.
Let’s look at what the scripture says to us today!
1. Give your burden to God vs 28
He doesn’t care what they are
He doesn’t attach any strings
He simply says: Come unto me
Bring those burdens and lay them at the feet of Jesus
I Peter 5:7?Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.
The Greek text indicates that Peter encouraged them not just to give their worries over to God one by one as they came up, but to make a commitment to cast, or “deposit,” their whole future on God and not to worry about what would come.
The Amplified New Testament puts it this way, “Casting the whole of your care—all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all—on Him; for He cares for you affectionately, and cares about you watchfully.”
David encouraged the same type of commitment in Psalm 55:22 when he said, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
So many times we come to Jesus and ask Him to carry us through but we never give Him the burden
Illustration: I read the story of a man riding down the road on a horse and cart when he saw a stranger struggling under a heavy load. He stopped and offered him a ride that was gladly accepted. But as they rode along together, he noticed the stranger still kept carrying the huge sack on his back. So he said, "Why don’t you just lay it down?" The stranger replied, "Oh no, it’s good of you to carry me. I couldn’t expect you to carry my burden too!"
We can smile at the simpleton, but that’s what we do if we don’t allow God to take care of us.
So many times we want him to care for us but we don’t want to give him the burden we are carrying.
What is your burden today?
Are you willing to lay it at His feet or do you want to continue to carry it yourself?
1. Give your burden to God
2. Take His yoke v 29
Huh? What is his yoke? What does this mean?
Picture of a yoke
It literally means to walk alongside him and learn from him.
It means to see how he walks and walk the same
It means to be committed to Him and the life he wants us to lead
It says he is gentle and humble in heart.
If we walk alongside and learn from him, we become gentle and humble at heart also
He wants us to be like Him.
Jesus is explaining why we should embrace His way of life. As our Lord and Master, He is not harsh, overbearing, and oppressive, but gentle
A new ox was often trained for plowing or drawing a cart by yoking him with an experienced ox.
The yoke kept the young ox from "doing his own thing" and he soon learned obedience to his master
1. Give your burden to God
2. Take His yoke
3. Rest comes
This is a very important piece of the puzzle.
Out of our commitment to Him and be yoked with Him comes Peace.
Peace in him means that we do not need to worry about our lives and where He might take us
Peace means we can rest in Him
The future is not a major concern for us because we know it is in His hands.
It also means that we can walk peacefully knowing that he will accomplish His will.
So many times in life and the church we get so bent out of shape about things instead of just trusting Him.
His peace allows us to not have to get caught up in the ways of the world
He wants you to have Peace!
He wants you to be yoked with Him because He knows what it will do for you.
In a world where so many things we chase for gratification leave us depleted, Jesus is promising that when we take up our cross and follow him, he can give us rest -- that restorative, nurturing, and rekindling strength that gives us the power to face what life brings or Satan throws in our paths.
What are you waiting for today?
Are you carrying a burden that you just need to lay at His feet?
Do you need to yoke up with Christ?
Do you need to be gentle and humble right now?
Maybe it is time to come to this alter and lay it at His feet!
Will you join me today?
