As a part of hospice chaplain work, we were asked a few months ago to provide a weekly Bible lesson for a group of king and queen-agers. I love it when you all share your inspiration with us so I thought I’d share this week's lesson with you all.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 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.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Does everyone see this? It’s a pillow. Pillows aren't something we spend a lot of our time thinking about, but if someone were to suddenly take them all away, we would probably think about them almost all the time. I think all of us here have at least one of them. Some of us have several. I just returned from a business trip where the hotel had several pillows to choose from in my room, and strangely enough, NONE of them were right for me. I really missed my pillow back home. We use pillows to rest our heads on when we sleep. We use them on our chairs to prop us up one way or another or to try and make ourselves more comfortable.
For most of us, pillows have been a daily (or nightly) part of our lives for as long as we can remember. Sometimes we still can't get comfortable, but we sure wouldn't be very comfortable without them. Our bodies would start hurting even more than they already do and we'd probably get even less rest than we do. Rest is really important. It's a question our parents were asked pretty much as soon as we were born. "How is the baby resting?" As babies and children, our health and growth was dependent in a large part, on our rest. If we didn't sleep well at night, we were cranky the next day. I don't know about you, but it's still this way for me. Sleep helps our body in a lot of ways. It helps our muscles rebuild and gives our stomach time to digest the food we ate that day. It helps our emotional well-being. Rest is necessary. Without it, we simply wouldn't survive.
You know, God is like this pillow. God also provides comfort and rest. He makes the uncomfortable places in life a bit more bearable. He doesn't always take the pain away, but he is like the best pillow ever and provides a cushion through his Word and his companionship in our daily lives to help with the "sore spots”.
I'm not talking about our bodies so much now, I'm talking about the rest he gives our souls.
Hebrews 4:9-11 says this:
9 There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God.
10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
When God's work of creation was done, he rested. For most of us here, our working days are over, and we are here to rest physically. What a blessing to also be able to rest spiritually. When we confess and forsake sin and receive Christ into our hearts we accept his promise that our soul will live forever in heaven. We can rest in this knowledge! If you are not resting in this way, then you have NEVER as yet found the right “pillow”.
When we go to bed at night, we don't know for sure how we will rest. There are things that may interrupt our sleep. Pain may come, worry can disturb our sleep, sickness can arise or noise may awaken us. The rest Jesus gives our souls is a sure thing. It's a promise. A promised PILLOW for our weary souls. Whatever we have done in this life to cause pain or mess things up, God has the right pillow for the need.
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” If we love Jesus and follow him, he will give us rest and comfort. We can be assured that we will spend eternity with God in heaven. We'll never have to be tired or stressed, in pain, sick or worried. So when you go to bed tonight, and when you lay your head on your pillow, remember that God provides a total rest for your soul and be comforted by that knowledge.
Hebrews 4:9-11 says this:
9 There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God.
10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
When God's work of creation was done, he rested. For most of us here, our working days are over, and we are here to rest physically. What a blessing to also be able to rest spiritually. When we confess and forsake sin and receive Christ into our hearts we accept his promise that our soul will live forever in heaven. We can rest in this knowledge! If you are not resting in this way, then you have NEVER as yet found the right “pillow”.
When we go to bed at night, we don't know for sure how we will rest. There are things that may interrupt our sleep. Pain may come, worry can disturb our sleep, sickness can arise or noise may awaken us. The rest Jesus gives our souls is a sure thing. It's a promise. A promised PILLOW for our weary souls. Whatever we have done in this life to cause pain or mess things up, God has the right pillow for the need.
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” If we love Jesus and follow him, he will give us rest and comfort. We can be assured that we will spend eternity with God in heaven. We'll never have to be tired or stressed, in pain, sick or worried. So when you go to bed tonight, and when you lay your head on your pillow, remember that God provides a total rest for your soul and be comforted by that knowledge.
Prayer Challenge:
Lord, help us when things are uncomfortable here in this life. Whether it is the discomfort of body or spirit, to remember that you promised rest to our souls. Help us to relax in the knowledge that our work is done when we accept the gift of your forgiveness. Thank you for the gift of rest Thank you for the promises you give us as little cushions or pillows on our way to Heaven where we will rest eternally in our presence free from all sorrow and pain.
Lord, help us when things are uncomfortable here in this life. Whether it is the discomfort of body or spirit, to remember that you promised rest to our souls. Help us to relax in the knowledge that our work is done when we accept the gift of your forgiveness. Thank you for the gift of rest Thank you for the promises you give us as little cushions or pillows on our way to Heaven where we will rest eternally in our presence free from all sorrow and pain.
Song:
All the way my Savior leads me What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercies? Who through life has been my guide Heavenly peace, divinest COMFORT Here by faith in Him to dwell
For I know whate'er fall me
Jesus doeth all things well
All of the way my Savior leads me Cheers each winding path I tread
Gives me strength for every trial Feeds me with the living bread Though my weary steps may falter And my soul a-thirst may be Gushing from a rock before me
Lo! a spring of joy I see
And all the way my Savior leads me Oh, the fullness of His love
Perfect REST to me is promised
In my Father's house above
When my spirit clothed immortal Wings its flight to realms of day This my song through endless ages Jesus led me all the way.
Written in cooperation by RWB&KBB
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