From:
Date: April 26, 2021
Subject: It's April 26; Good Morning Union


“Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I WILL GIVE YOU REST.”  Matthew 11:28-30

 

Anyone tired? Anyone exhausted. The fatherly-grandfatherly side of me wants to say, “Go to bed. Don’t stay up so late!” The chaplain side of me says, “Read Matthew 11:28-30!” Resting is a beautiful thing. I need physical rest to allow my body to rejuvenate. I need emotional rest by having a plan to deal with the stressors in life that can distract me from a healthy balanced approach to life. And I need spiritual rest which can come on Sabbath, AND it can come any time I’m willing to apply dad’s text to my life.

The promise at the end of the verse says, “… and I WILL give you rest.” OK, so what has to happen from God’s perspective that will assure me that I WILL have rest.”

 

  1. “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden.”- first I have to make the conscious decision to turn to God. I can look in lots of places to find rest and I can try lots of things. Jesus says, “IF you are overwhelmed with life (“heavy laden”) you need to come to Me so I can help.”
  2. “Take my yoke upon you”- a yoke is a big piece of wood that ties two animals, like oxen, together. The purpose is two-fold:
    1. To allow the more experienced animal to help the less experience animal stay focused and on-task.
    2. Because two pulling together is way more efficient that two doing their own thing and going their own ways.

I consciously come to Him and then I voluntarily connect myself to Him SO THAT He can guide me and lead me, AND provide His added strength to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.

And the verse goes on to further explain the process. It’s apparently an important concept to God because He goes to extra lengths to make it clear!

  1. “Learn of me”- When I come to Him and connect my life with Him, I learn about Him and His ways which will not only give me rest, but will give me a better perspective on life with clearer and easier paths to follow through life. And what can I learn from Him when I do this?
    1. “He is gentle”
    2. “He is humble”
    3. “His yoke is easy”
    4. “His burden is light”

And the end result is that I will find rest! My dad used to say, “Stop making Christianity so hard!” When I find my Savior I find relief from my heavy burdens, I find a source of strength and guidance, I find a gentle and humble friend whose yoke and burden are light, because I have come to Him and chosen to link myself to Him with His “easy yoke.” He lightens my burdens and gives “rest to my soul.” If that’s not the kind of God I’ve found then I’ve found the wrong god!

 

Have a great day discovering this kind of God in your life too,

Pastor Rich

 

Quote for the day:      “The biggest obstacle to being great is the satisfaction with being good.”

PS        Marcus Larivaux, pastor from Allon Chapel is in Campus Ministries to offer additional pastoral support from 1-3 this afternoon. You can make an appointment by contacting Pastor Larivaux at milarivaux@gmail.com or just stopping by. We are very grateful that we can offer a variety of pastoral counseling for you. This will be Pastor Marcus’ last visit this school year so stop by and thank him for his caring for our campus.