The Road To Restoration Matthew 11: 28-30

Christ is unlike any other - don't opt for a one size fits all religion or an off the rack religion or even your own self-designed religion. Go to our Maker who knows you and me better than we know ourselves. A relationship with Jesus is rich and rewarding - nothing can compare to it. All others are cheap imitations. For those who are united with Him make sure you maintain the balance. Don't try to shoulder the load in your own strength. Look to the Spirit to keep you close to Christ and rest in His power to perform His work and daily walk with Him.

Action

The second aspect to a relationship with Jesus is 'action'. This comes across in verse 29 where it says, And Learn From Me'. The Greek word for 'learn' mathete shares its root with the word 'disciple'. The learning we are called to do is not so much an intellectual head-knowledge active. It is learning on the job. Don't sit and vegetate. Relationships have to be active. It is not a matter of contemplation, though there is a real time and place for that, it is a matter of participation. The NT is filled with the fact that faith is a living thing- it is life. Our whole being - body, soul and spirit is to be engaged in it. A healthy relationship requires words, thoughts and deeds. Jesus teaches us how to do it - we can walk the walk because we walk with Him and learn directly from Him. Make sure your relationship is direct - one on one. As we live with Him we learn from Him.

It is sad to think of those who are alone in this world. Even those who have crowds around them and are occupied, when they are left entirely to themselves they realise there is a hollowness that nothing in this world can fill. For all the world tells us to look out for me, myself and I. There is the flip side to independence.

Illustration

The band Green Day's number one selling album 'American Idiot' features the song 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'. Here are some of the lyrics:

I walk a lonely - The only one that I have ever known

Don't Don't know where it goes - But it's home to me & I walk alone

I walk this empty street - On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Where the city sleeps - and I'm the only one & I walk alone

I walk alone, I walk alone, I walk alone, . . .

My shadow is the only one that walks besides me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

'Til then I walk alone

We don't have to walk alone! In Jesus we have a friend who sticks closer than a brother. And that's not super glue - it's God's glue!

3. RESTORATION

It doesn't end at that. Jesus adds grace upon mercy and glory upon grace. We are first Refreshed by Christ, then Related to Him and thirdly we are Restored in Him. The nature of our restoration comes in and through Jesus. Verse 29 continues 'I Am gentle and Humble in Heart, and You Will Find Rest for Your Souls.' Our restoration comes from:

Salvation in the Person and Work of Jesus

Gentle and Humble. This is the nature of Christ the Saviour. He restores us by changing us - by making us like Him. He is full of compassion, mercy, humility and love.