Verse of the Day for Monday, December 28, 2020

 

Verse of the Day
Monday, December 28, 2020

Matthew 11:28

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

You are tired. You are weary. Weary of being slapped by the waves of broken dreams. Weary of being stepped on and run over in the endless marathon to the top. Weary of trusting in someone only to have that trust returned in an envelope with no return address. Weary of staring into the future and seeing only futility.

What steals our childhood zeal?

It is this weariness that makes the words of the carpenter so compelling. Listen to them. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).

Come to me… The invitation is to come to him. Why him?

He offers the invitation as a penniless rabbi in an oppressed nation. He has no connections with the authorities in Rome. He hasn’t written a best seller or earned a diploma.

Yet, he dares to look into the leathery faces of farmers and tired faces of housewives and offer rest. He looks into the disillusioned eyes of a bartender and makes this paradoxical promise: “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” (Mt 11:29).

The people came. They came out of the cul-de-sacs and office complexes of their existence. And he gave them, not religion, not doctrine, not systems, but rest. As a result, they called him Lord.

As a result, they called him Savior. Not so much because of what he said, but because of what he did.

What he did on the cross during six hours, one Friday.

Read all of Matthew 11

Listen to Matthew 11

The Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV)